A "NieR" Trademark for New Console Game Has Appeared

NieR might be seeing a comeback. Recent trademark registrations for the game have been discovered.

First reported by Japanese game site Gamestalk.net, a trademark registration was published on December 17, 2019, for "NieR." The trademark was filed by a Square Enix representative and covers both physical merchandise and digital video game software, including "programs for home video game consoles."

Currently, there's no certainty as to what this means. Last we saw of the series was in 2017 with NieR: Automata. That title saw impressive success, reinforcing the idea of the franchise returning. But in what form will it return as?

There is a possibility of a new NieR title, though there's no evidence of this outside of the aforementioned trademark.

It's worth mentioning that the year 2020 will mark the 10th anniversary of the original NieR. Square Enix is giving special attention to this event with an essentially empty webpage. This could mean that the company is working on publishing a remake or remaster of the original game.

The less exciting possibility is that NieR: Automata will have an HD re-release for the next-gen consoles (The Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5). These trademark registrations might be a legal formality for such an idea.

Regardless of speculation, we don't actually know what this trademark means for NieR. Only time will tell. Stay tuned.