If you’re reading this in most parts of the world, it’s March 31. For Japan, however, it’s April 1, April Fools’ Day, or what news writers call “the most annoying day of the year.” A lot of video game companies love to post jokes and tease non-existent projects as part of the holiday, though sometimes companies like Sega do something substantial like release a whole-ass video game. Now that Japan is firmly in April Fools’ Day, the Japanese Nier social media account is teasing a “Cosmic Horror” project in the RPG series, and if there’s anyone in the video game industry that might tease something in earnest on April 1, it’s Nier director Yoko Taro.
【NieR 新プロジェクト 制作血定】
虚無に生まれるは、希望か。
それとも、救済という名の絶望か。━━━Coming Soon…… pic.twitter.com/nBdtqQEF12
— NieR公式PRアカウント (@NieR_JPN) March 31, 2026
The “teaser” doesn’t reveal much. The video features art showing some kind of robotic creature with a tendril for a head and caked-up cheeks. We can also see a sketch of Emil, the young boy turned super-weapon from the previous games who wears a stone mask with a creepy smile, in the background. All of this comes after Square Enix has teased a new Nier project, but given that it’s April Fools’ Day, this is probably not whatever Taro is cooking up…unless…?
It’s been almost a decade since Nier Automata launched in 2017, but Nier fans haven’t been completely starved for anything new. The game keeps crossing over with any game that asks, the concert series gave fans an epilogue of sorts for Automata, the anime adaptation introduced some new story elements, and there was a Nier mobile game called Reincarnation that included substantial worldbuilding…and that Square Enix took offline in 2024. Whatever Square is cooking up, it would be cool if they gave Reincarnation the Octopath Traveler 0 treatment and stripped out all the gacha nonsense to make it playable on other platforms.