When NieR: Automata ended its 9th anniversary celebration stream earlier this year with the words “To be continued…”, fans immediately started doing what NieR fans do best: overanalyzing everything.

Was it teasing a sequel? A new game announcement? DLC? Another anime adaptation? Nobody really knew, but considering the series had just crossed 10 million copies sold worldwide, speculation exploded almost instantly.

Now, thanks to a massive new interview in Weekly Famitsu, we finally have a clearer idea of where that message actually came from. And in true NieR fashion, the answer is both surprisingly sincere and completely unserious at the same time.

Producer Yosuke Saito revealed that he was personally the one who pushed to include the “To be continued…” line in the anniversary video. According to the interview, Saito explained:

“I’m not sure if it has any particular significance, but I felt that ‘to be continued’ was absolutely essential for the 9th-anniversary video.” He also joked that stopping at year nine simply felt wrong, adding:

“Ending on the number 9 feels a bit awkward, and we want to keep going until the 10th anniversary, right?” That’s probably not the concrete sequel confirmation some fans were hoping for, but it does show that the team clearly wants to keep the franchise active heading into 2027.

Then, of course, Yoko Taro stepped in with exactly the kind of response people expect from him. In another quote from the interview, the NieR director bluntly joked:

“My prediction is that it’s a message along the lines of, ‘We’re not done yet, and we’re going to make money,’” Yoko said.

That self-aware humor is basically part of the franchise’s identity at this point. Yoko Taro has spent years openly mocking the games industry, marketing culture, and even his own projects, so fans immediately recognized the comment as classic Yoko behavior rather than some cynical corporate statement.

Still, the bigger takeaway from the interview is just how unexpectedly massive NieR: Automata became over time. The team admitted they originally hoped the game might sell around one million copies, with Saito explaining that the project felt financially risky back then.

What’s interesting is that the team also talked openly about the pressure that success created afterward. Yoko Taro described sales numbers as “castles of vanity” and joked that the developers are now “living in fear of the 10 million ghost,” referring to the expectations attached to following up a hit this large. 

In the meantime, NieR: Automata itself has basically evolved into a constantly active multimedia franchise. Between ports, concerts, merchandise, collaborations with games like Azur Lane, and the successful NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… remake, Square Enix clearly has no intention of letting the series disappear anytime soon.

But despite all that activity, fans are still waiting for the one thing they actually want most: a brand-new single-player NieR experience. For now, though, it sounds like even the creators themselves aren’t entirely sure what the future looks like.

The latest release for the series is NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…, (get our review!), though the latest canonical release was NieR: Automata – get our review!