Director’s Desk Vol. 1

Thank you so much for playing NieR Re[in]carnation.
Director Daichi Matsukawa here.

We successfully released both English and Korean versions of NieR Re[in]carnation on July 28, 2021. Since then, so many people have played the game that we reached a total of 15 million downloads worldwide.

It's such a big number that it's honestly hard for me to wrap my head around, but I am truly thankful for everyone's support!

Additionally, I must sincerely apologize for not greeting you all sooner. But moving forward, I would like to start giving you details on NieR Re[in]carnation's development and future direction through periodic letters from the Director's Desk, just like we do in the Japanese version.

Today, I would like to briefly introduce what we have in the works for NieR Re[in]carnation.

◆Chapter 12 Release

We plan to release Chapter 12, the final chapter of "The Girl and the Monster," on October 13, 2021.

This chapter is a big end point in the story, so we pulled out all the stops. I hope that all of you enjoy it.

◆Regarding Event Operations

I would like to talk a bit about how we run events in the English and Korean versions.

Since the Japanese version was released first, we generally have events in the English and Korean versions two months after their release in the Japanese version.

We are gradually revising our workflow so we can release events in all versions as close to the same time as possible, but we apologize for the present intervals. This also applies to seasonal events (Christmas, anniversaries, etc.), which we hope to release at the same time or as close to the same time as possible across all three versions moving forward.

◆Subjugation Battles

Next I'd like to touch on subjugation battles, which are central to a big content update we have planned for October. A basic rundown of how they work is as follows:

■ General information:
・You will need one deck per wave.
・This is a three-wave battle, so you will need a three-deck loadout.
・Each wave has a time limit.
・Your score is calculated based on damage dealt and other battle conditions.
・You are rewarded based on your score.
・You cannot reuse any characters/weapons/companions/memoirs across the three decks used for battle.
・You will encounter one boss of each of the five elemental affinities.

The above is the gist of subjugation battles, but I think you'll get a quicker grasp on it when you play it for yourself, so we are working hard to get this to you as soon as possible. Also note that this is not considered a special event and will be held regularly, so there is no need to rush for a high score.

This content has already been released in the Japanese version and we have taken the time to go over all the feedback we've received. As such, it will be released in a better state for the English and Korean versions.

◆The Map Function

In the future, we are considering expanding NieR Re[in]carnation around an as yet unnamed map function.

■ Map function basics:
・Visiting parts of The Cage you have already completed will be easier.
・You can replay scenarios you have already completed without using stamina.
・There will be unique rewards granted for replaying via the map function.
・Events may occur in completed parts of The Cage.
・New stories and enemies will appear in completed parts of The Cage.

We plan on releasing the map function this autumn and it will serve as the core of our future update direction. It will be a while before people encounter new events, but we hope to offer players different kinds of things to experience and ways to play inside The Cage.

We are also working on the following adjustments to current systems as part of the map function update:
・Activating daily summons and daily challenges from the menu.
・Altering unlock conditions for daily summons and daily challenges.
・Making it easier to collect items that spawn in Mama's Room.

We ask for your patience until the update hits.

◆Other Updates

I'd like to let you all know other things we're working on besides the subjugation battles and map function.

We want this game to be a place where you can casually indulge in the world of NieR. To that end, we're fixing things that waste time during play and that are clunky to use, and also developing functions and content that will make engaging with the world of NieR Re[in]carnation more fun.

■Possible future updates: A 3D viewer, the ability to change characters' battle outfits, quest skip functions and adding skip tickets, allowing players to skip multiple kinds of quests at once, shortening the game's start-up time, using multiple exploration tickets at once, adding the ability to save three memoirs as a set, and seeing the attributes of a memoir immediately upon its drop.

We're hoping to add quality of life updates for all versions as soon as possible, keeping the opinions of overseas players in mind.

◆In Conclusion...

The English and Korean versions were released in July 2021, and the Japanese version celebrated its half-year anniversary in August 2021.

I am grateful for everyone's support and wish to thank you very much.

Many of us on the team are honestly still quite new to this, but we want all our players from around the world to fall in love with and get lost in the world of NieR. To that end, we will continue to develop and operate NieR Re[in]carnation in a way that brings everyone greater enjoyment.

That's all for now. I hope you continue to enjoy NieR Re[in]carnation.

NieR Re[in]carnation Director
Daichi Matsukawa