secret Nier: Automatasecret church has been resolved. Rather, the people behind it agreed to create a mod that made it possible and troll the community by showing off their work for a month.
On Thursday, the Reddit account sadfutago, which first posted about the undiscovered church in early June and released numerous videos of previously unseen content, series of new pictures from the church grounds with mysterious messages. Those messages led in the end for Twitch account that posted more images church, a new boss fight and another completely separate area. The audience was shocked – but some understood what was happening at this point.
At the end of a playthrough Nier: Automatic‘s church area, the people behind it revealed themselves and the modding work they did to make it possible. Three mods, going by the names DevolasRevenge, Woeful_Wolf, and RaiderB, explained what they got: They modded Nier: Automata created something that few thought possible, and something so meticulously crafted that many thought PlatinumGames or Square Enix were responsible.
“Everything we shared is completely in-game,” said the band, “no editing was used. We loved all the discussions and theories – it’s been an amazing journey. Seeing the community come together after so many years has been inspiring, making all the hard work worth it.”
Modder DevolasRevenge, who designed the new map, thanked viewers and fans for coming along for the ride. “You waited and waited for this result, I hope you enjoyed the effect,” they said. “It was never meant to blow up this big, just to confuse a few people on Twitter.”
A team of moderators apologized for misleading Nier fans, saying that the trick was intended to trick them into believing that the church was either cut content or an as-yet-unrevealed mystery, rather than an augmented reality game (ARG) or marketing stunt. The group also said they were “not trying to imitate Yoko Taro” and later apologized for what they called an “antilimactic ending”.
good news for Nier: Automata fans who want to visit the church themselves (and see more Nier mods) said the team will make the 3D modeling add-ons for Blender and the scripting tools they use public. “Look out for more…” they said.
Nier: Automata fans who have been following the saga were both delighted and stunned by the revelation. Many theorized that this was the work of Nier producer Yoko Taro and his team, and believed that the church was a campaign that would eventually pay off with either a new Nier game, a Drakengard remake (brought along by some assets). Drakengard 3 included Nier: Automata) or something grander. In the end, the reveal was effective, just not what they had hoped.
