Tencent was reportedly making a new Nier game with Square Enix but stopped development in December. It was reportedly a mobile game that was in the works for nearly two years.
According to Reuters, the development costs and franchise rights to the Nier property were expensive. Tencent reportedly had trouble deciding how to monetize the mobile game so the company decided to cancel the project.
Another Nier game on mobile already exists called Nier Reincarnation. However, it’s shutting down later this year but will receive more content before sunsetting. However, this game’s cancellation is far from the end of Nier. Producer Yosuke Saito has strongly implied the series will continue with director Yoko Taro, albeit at an unclear future date.
One of Tencent’s other projects is reportedly a mobile version of Elden Ring that’s trying to emulate Genshin Impact’s free-to-play model. Tencent has been trying to become a bigger player in the games industry, as it completely owns Riot Games and has a 40% stake in Epic Games.
However, CEO Pony Ma recently said that he feels Tencent has “achieved nothing” in the space over the past year, as its competitors released new products, and with 2023 being one of the most notable years for high profile game releases.