Nier writer-director Yoko Taro isn't shy about offering up puzzles for fans to pore over, and the recent History of Nier video from the Game Maker's Notebook podcast is no different. At the closing of that video, Yoko Taro says that he will do "anything for money" and that the next Nier game could come out tomorrow or perhaps 35 years from now.

Interviewer Shuhei Yoshida later pushes Yoko on the topic, asking him if he's taking a "less hands-on" role in his current projects, as a creative director. The Nier creator replied that he's not personally directing those projects, because he feels that the games might turn out better if "this elderly man was only vaguely, loosely associated with them." Those games include the Voice of Cards series, among others.

As with everything Yoko Taro does, there's definitely an element of creative performance here--you'd expect no less from a man who wears a giant novelty mask in all his public appearances. Still, his persona fits the Nier series, which is well-known for its twisty puzzle-box storylines and plethora of secrets. Back in 2021, prolific game hacker Lance McDonald found a cheat code that allows you to skip to the end of Nier Automata, which had laid hidden for years. Last year, some creative Automata modders managed to convince many fans that a random player had discovered an ultra-hidden secret area in the game by accident.