If there have been to ever be a mascot for the videogame business weirdos (endearing), it’d most actually be Nier creator Yoko Taro. He is constructed a model round being a little bit eccentric, nearly all the time seen sporting his Emil masks and making video games that someway completely straddle being a little bit sexy, devastating, and thought-provoking . Hell, he even did a complete GDC presentation in 2014 titled “Making Bizarre Video games for Bizarre Folks”. He is aware of, I do know, everyone knows.
It is no shock, then, that in a latest Q&A he held over on X, somebody requested him if there have been plenty of unusual people knocking round within the business. As reported by Automaton Media, Taro replied to say that, a minimum of from his expertise, there positive aren’t as many as there was.
ゲーム業界に３０年いるんですが、「変な人」は減った気がしますね。単に僕の見ている範囲の現象なのか、ゲーム業界がそうなったのか、世の中全体がそうなのかはよくわかりませんが。 pic.twitter.com/xkueiPlrtBJune 16, 2025
“I have been within the recreation business for 30 years, and it looks as if there are fewer ‘weirdos’ on the market,” he mentioned (by way of a machine translation). “I’m not positive if that is only a phenomenon in my commentary, or if the sport business has develop into like that, or if the entire world has develop into like that.”
I do suppose Taro is a tiny bit proper in that there are much less bizarre videogames popping out, however I believe that is largely solely true in terms of bigger price range video games. In any case, anybody with Unity and a dream can conjure up all method of weird little experiences and chuck them on itch.io or undergo the method (and cost) of making an attempt to get it up on Steam.
However I additionally can not help however shake the sensation that there is an air of bigger builders taking part in issues so much safer as of late. Loads of sequels, remakes, and remasters. Stuff that folks in all probability already like and are keen to dive into on model recognition alone. I think about it is so much tougher as of late to even pitch one thing kinda unusual to a writer, not to mention get them to fund it.
I additionally must marvel if the bar for who or what is taken into account bizarre has additionally merely been raised through the years. I used to be branded a little bit freak for watching anime again in England in 2007, and now I am a freak if I have not seen the most recent episode of My Cat Become a 4,000-12 months-Outdated Demon Enchantress or no matter’s popping off proper now. Instances change, and I actually really feel just like the final decade or so has seen folks’s definition of ‘bizarre’ evolve dramatically.
Not that I might thoughts if the business noticed an rebellion of Yoko Taro-likes, thoughts you. If there’s something I like, it is a weird-ass videogame, and perhaps it is time for some courageous troopers to seize Taro’s consideration with one thing delightfully quirky to play.
