Nier animated series put on hold

The Nier: Automata anime has been abruptly put on hold after airing just three episodes, with no return date set for the series.

Nier: Automata’s animated series adaptation has abruptly come to a halt, after just three episodes of the anime aired.

The Nier: Automata anime got a release date late last year, with the first episode airing on January 8. The following two episodes then aired in the weeks following, with the series seemingly progressing without a hitch. Now, that seems to have changed.

The official Twitter account for the series announced that the fourth episode, and all subsequent episodes, will be put indefinitely on hold. The announcement didn’t say when the episodes would start airing again, but did say that an announcement about the series would come “soon”.

According to the post, the delay is due to the impact of COVID-19, though further details weren’t given.

“Due to the impact of COVID-19 on production, we have decided to postpone the broadcast and distribution of episode 4 and all subsequent episodes,” the Twitter post said, “Information regarding the broadcast and distribution schedule for episode 4 and beyond will be announced on the official anime website and official Twitter soon.

“We apologise for any inconvenience and concern this may cause our fans who have been looking forward to our work due to these unforeseen circumstances. Thank you for your understanding”.

Broadcast postponement due to COVID-19 pic.twitter.com/dGz01S1ywQ

— NieR:Automata - Animation Project (@NieRA_anime_EN) January 21, 2023

The anime series is based on Nier: Automata, an action game made by PlatinumGames and published by Square Enix in 2017. The game was first released in 2017, where it was lauded by critics and fans for its ambitious, genre-bending gameplay and unique storytelling.

The animated adaptation seemed to largely be following the storyline of the game in its first three episodes, but small hints at bigger changes have appeared throughout. The series was co-written by Nier: Automata director Yoko Taro, who has a knack for writing twists and turns into his works.

Nier Automata Ver 1.1a is being worked on by A-1 Pictures, who also produced anime for Ace Attorney and Persona 4 Golden. Picture: Aniplex

It’s not the only video game-related property to face a delay lately. Skull and Bones, a big Ubisoft game, was delayed six times, with the recent announcement pushing the game potentially into 2024. The announcement came alongside a further announcement that three unannounced games had been cancelled, as Ubisoft faces an economic downturn.

Ubisoft workers threatened to strike following inflammatory remarks from the company’s CEO, Yves Guillemot. Guillemot reportedly told workers that “the ball was in [their] court” to deliver projects on time, which some workers saw as shifting the blame and responsibility away from management.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.