NieR: Automata's production team is having fun with fan speculation. In a recent Famitsu interview, director Yokō Tarō and producer Yōsuke Saitō opened up about the mysterious "NieR: Automata to be continued…" message that appeared at the end of the game's February 20 anniversary celebration video—the one marking 10 million copies shipped or downloaded worldwide.

Saitō took credit for adding the cryptic tagline, explaining it felt fitting for the ninth anniversary milestone. "I don't know if there will be a sequel, but I felt including 'to be continued…' was an absolute must," he said. Yokō chimed in with a wink, joking that the real message was probably something like, "We're not done, we're going to keep raking it in."

Not to be outdone, Saitō countered that ending at the ninth anniversary felt incomplete—why not keep the momentum rolling toward the tenth?

The interview also touched on the team's April Fool's Day joke, which teased a "New NieR Project Production Kettei" (Green-Lit). The prank used a nonsensical homonym kanji (血定, "Established Blood") instead of the usual characters, creating a deliberately confusing joke that resonated with fans more than expected.

Yokō revealed the creative deliberation behind the gag. Originally, the post said "Release Green-Lit," but they worried fans might genuinely believe it. So they changed it to "Release Not Green-Lit"—except that created a new problem. Saitō pointed out the irony: on April Fool's Day, saying something isn't green-lit is itself a lie, which would mean it actually is green-lit. The logic spiraled.

To cut through the confusion, they settled on the intentionally meaningless 血定 kanji, a playful middle ground. Yokō admitted afterward, "Looking back now, I don't really get what '血定' means"—which is exactly the point.

NieR: Automata continues to prove the franchise thrives on mystery and meta-humor. Whether these teases hint at actual plans or are simply the team having a laugh with their fanbase remains delightfully unclear—which is probably how the creators prefer it.