There hasn’t been much official talk about the up-coming sequel to NieR these days, but I came across a blog that is specifically dedicated to newly hired employees at Platinum Games. A recent post written by concept artist Koda Kazuma mentions a tiny bit about NieR: Automata.

He goes on to talk about the merits of working at Platinum Games and how the company has given him the great opportunity to further cultivate his talents.

1. The chance to experiment with various art styles
   • Chance to work on both original and globally high-profile titles
   • It’s difficult to find a company that offers the chance to gain experience on both of these fronts.
   • Speaking strictly from the vantage point of the artwork, there is no better chance to experiment with various art styles.
   • You’ll experience what real hell is like while incorporating new styles into your own art style,but once you are able to achieve this, you will definitely feel as though you’ve accomplished something great.
2. The ability to immediately make illustrations on the forefront
   • Regarding concept artists at Platinum Games, since there are so few specialized artists, once you join the company, you can immediately make illustrations on the forefront… you will be told to draw right away.
   • There is no time to sit idly by, thinking, “But, I have no experience…”
   • Two years after joining Platinum Games and about 6 months after becoming a concept artist, he was tagged to lead the concept designer for NieR: Automata.
   • When he found himself in the urgent situation as the sole concept artist, he recalls working half-overwhelmed by such daunting responsibility.
   • He was initially worried that Yoko Taro might be a scary guy, but was later relieved to find how nice he actually is.
   • Thanks to these experiences, he was able to continue with his work without being emotionally rattled. He now looks back to those difficult moments and realizes how important they were to his overall development as an artist.
3. The opportunity to be challenged in everything
   • As previously stated, since the concept art section is relatively small, there is great opportunities to gain all kinds of artistic experience.
   • By creating designs for characters, backgrounds, weapons, and items, you can challenge yourself while drawing whatever you like. For example, one particular staff member would multitask. While working on designing a final boss, he’d also work on designing a house in a quiet village…EVERY TIME.
   • After taking a look at an artist’s abilities, you can separate the work in two. Those who only want to draw backgrounds, such as Koda, is one of the two categories.
   • This degree of artistic freedom seldom exists in companies today.

Finally, he talks about the most important thing he’s obtained through working at Platinum Games: his expanding scope of interests. He was able to improve his own artistic ability through expanding his interest in a multitude of different things, but there needs to be something to trigger this initial interest. At Platinum Games, there are many ways to spark an interest in something, and by this assessment, Koda believes Platinum Games is a great company to work for.

Closing out the blog post, he posted the following recent illustration…which may or may not be for NieR: Automata. No specific designation was given for it, but it’s still a gorgeous piece of art!

Here are some of his early concept art for NieR: Automata: