Even after a year since its release, Nier Automata is continuing to do good on the market, so much that it has brought an increase of operating income for publisher Square Enix in the past nine months.

　　In its latest financial report for the April - December 2017 period, Square Enix noted how the decrease in the number of big titles resulted in net sales declines compared to the same period of the previous year. At the same time, the strong digital sales for games like Nier Automata have resulted in an increase of operating income.

　　During the Nine-Month period ended December 31, 2017, while “DRAGON QUEST XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age,” the latest title of the “DRAGON QUEST” series and “FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE” were launched, a decrease in the number of blockbuster titles resulted in net sales decline as compared to the same period of the prior fiscal year. On the other hand, strong high-margin download sales of previously released catalogue titles such as “NieR:Automata” have resulted in an increase of operating income, as compared to the same period of the prior fiscal year.

　　Nier Automata's success is definitely well deserved, as the game is one of the best role-playing games released last year.

　　You’ll laugh; you’ll cry; you might even contemplate whether androids are capable of feeling emotion at all or if they’re merely going by what they were programmed to do. NieR: Automata rewards long-time fans of Yoko Taro’s works with an experience that transcends any single genre. Although it might not be a perfect game, the sum of NieR: Automata’s unique storytelling meshed with Platinum Games’ style of action meld together into a title well deserving of being one of my personal Games of the Year, not for the story being told but rather HOW 2B’s story was told.