Not only are developers and publishers debuting one amazing game after another in 2017, most of those releases are finding huge audiences as well.
Nier: Automata, a sci-fi action role-playing game from Square Enix, has surpassed 1 million copies shipped to stores and sold digitally through Steam on PC and the PlayStation store on console. The publisher revealed that it has reached this milestone just a month after the game’s March 7 launch.
This is the sequel to Nier, a 2010 RPG for PlayStation 3, that has a dedicated following. But while that original game was more of a cult favorite for a niche audience, Automata is catching on with a more mainstream player base.
The game’s success is due to several factors, and the beloved status of the first game is a part of that. But Automata is surpassing that due to a huge number of positive reviews, which is something the first Nier missed out on. The new Nier also launched simultaneously on PlayStation 4 and PC.
The Windows release is still among the top 10 best sellers on Steam, Valve’s PC gaming portal, and it was regularly in the No. 1 spot throughout the first couple of weeks after its debut.
Finally, the game’s race to 1 million copies shipped or sold digitally is in part due to its nearly simultaneous release across regions. Square Enix built up anticipation for the game since revealing it at the Electronic Entertainment Expo industry trade show in Los Angeles back in 2015. And then it launched it in Japan, Europe, and the Americas all within a week of each other.