Nier director Yoko Taro: New game projects start ‘with the money’

New game projects always start “with the money,” Nier director Yoko Taro shared in a recent interview alongside Clovers’ Hideki Kamiya.

The interview, conducted as part of the G-STAR game show in Busan, was originally published in Famitsu before being translated into English on the Clovers studio website.

When asked how he approaches new game projects, Yoko Taro answers, “It’s not very glamorous, but it starts with the money (development budget).”

Yoko goes on to clarify his answer and his pragmatic approach to development. “I’m aware from the start of how much money I have to work with, so by looking at how many resources that gets me in terms of development time and staff, it pretty much automatically dictates what I’ll be able to make,” he explains. “The staff are definitely the most important element, because if you tell a group of veteran action developers ‘please make me something that’s not an action game,’ it’s not going to turn out well.

“You have to fit the game to the talents of your staff, so when starting a project, I’ll look at everyone’s skills and figure out the best kind of game to aim for. Sometimes, the publisher or whoever is providing the project funding will request a certain type of game, so I might tailor my proposal around that as well.”

As a result, Yoko’s control over a game’s genre and gameplay is often limited. “I don’t think a single one of my projects has ever started with me saying, ‘Here’s the kind of game I want to make.’”

In a move that might upset some of his publishing partners, he goes on to explain his philosophy when it comes to deadlines. “I’m the type who will just keep tinkering away forever if you let me, so I want to make it clear up front that it’s always better to have a set deadline,” Yoko tells the audience. “With that said, one thing I’m always thinking about is, ‘how can I make sure to miss the deadline?’

“For example, if you’re only 50% of the way through development and you ask the client to double the budget because the game is likely to fall behind schedule, that’s probably not going to get approved. So instead, I tend to wait until the game is 90% done and then say we need an additional 30% of the budget to finish that last 10%. By that point, the client has paid for 90% of the work, meaning it’s too late for them to back out. Only then do I tell them, ‘Hey, the game is going to slip.’”

He concludes his explanation by telling the crowd, “And now I’ve passed on this underhanded technique to all of you.”

Yoko Taro hasn’t had many game credits since 2021’s Nier Replicant, but he reassures us that he’s had work and is doing well, even if his projects have been cancelled. “I’ve been involved with a lot of projects outside of the game industry, such as stage plays and anime, but most of the ones from the last three years ended up being cancelled,” he explains. “Obviously, cancelled projects never see the light of day, so it looks a lot like I haven’t been doing anything, but rest assured I’ve been keeping busy.”

Ever the optimist, he says, “Even if the projects are cancelled, I still get paid for my work, so I have no complaints in that regard. But it is still disappointing that I can’t show everyone what I was working on.”

Kamiya chimes in to say, “I actually prefer it when a project gets cancelled rather than releasing something subpar, so I never have many negative feelings about projects being cancelled partway through.” This is possibly a reference to cancelled Xbox exclusive Scalebound, which Kamiya previously said ‘could’ve been different’ with a Japanese publisher.