The Square Enix and Platinum Games action-RPG NieR: Automata has passed a huge milestone according to a tweet on the games’ official account. Between digital sales and physical sales, the 2017 release has now passed five million copies sold.  The game released on multiple platforms including PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One which no doubt helped boost the games’ sales.

We never quite realized… how beautiful this world is.#NieR:Automata has shipped and digitally sold over five million copies worldwide.

Thank you, everyone. pic.twitter.com/AzICS3LYis

— NieR Series (@NieRGame) December 24, 2020

NieR: Automata released to a very positive critical response with the PS4 version averaging a score of 88 on MetaCritic from its pool of 101 critics.  Players loved the game just as much as the critics with the game having an excellent 8.9 user score rating based on over three thousand different reviews.

The game is absolutely beautiful from the graphics to the storytelling through to the game’s impressive soundtrack. It is another showcase of the potential of video gaming to be seen as an art form.  It’s rare that such a highly heralded title comes along and is a reason the game has continued selling to this day.  It was also an immediate hit upon release as it topped the charts in Japan during its first week of release.  What seperated Automata from previous NieR games was its overseas success where the game was a big hit as opposed to previous releases that struggled outside of Asia.

The game has gone on to win a number of well-deserved awards no doubt keeping it in the spotlight and boosting sales with each victory.  Another possible reason for the continued success in sales is that fans are currently awaiting the release of the sequel to NieR: Automata. NieR Replicant ver. 1.22474487139 (commonly referred to as NieR ver. 1.22) is one of the most high profile releases coming to the next-gen consoles which has likely caused a spike in interest for the previous addition to the NieR series.  Nevertheless, the continued success of NieR: Automata should serve as a positive sign for Square Enix that the next addition to the series can do just as well providing it can live up to the hype.