[STEAM] Resellers Beware: Nier Automata Dev Yoko Taro's Real Autograph Includes 'Small, Unknown Features' to Help Spot Fakes

[Steam 0]

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director Yoko Taro has warned fans to be wary that "nearly half" of the items purporting to be autographed by him include fake signatures.

Responding to a fan on

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/ X who shared a snap of a signed soundtrack from

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on ***** for €200 (around $232), Taro revealed that he includes "small, unknown features" in real autographs to prevent precisely this kind of reselling.

"This autograph is a fake. I include small, unknown features in my real autographs to prevent reselling, so I can tell when one isn’t genuine," he explained. "I've confirmed that nearly half of the autographs being resold are actually fake, so please don't buy them."

This autograph is a fake. I include small unknown features in my real autographs to prevent reselling, so I can tell when one isn’t genuine. I've confirmed that nearly half of the autographs being resold are actually fake, so please don't buy them.
（◎血◎）

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— yokotaro (@yokotaro)

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What, exactly, those "features" are will likely not be known — at least not from Yoko Taro directly, I'd wager — but fans in the comments are trying to compare their autographs nonetheless, cross-referencing their cherished signatures with those known to have been signed by the revered game developer.

What's Yoko Taro up to these days when he's not signing things? Last year,

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but refused to say whether it was Nier 3.

"I’ve been talking about wanting to do something with [series director Yoko Taro] and [series composer Keiichi Okabe] for some time now," Saito said. "I’ll have something a bit more put together to say in the not too distant future, so please stay tuned." He than laughed: "It might be Nier, it might not be Nier. That’s about all I can say for now.”

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arrived in February 2017 and, while fans' appetites were somewhat satiated with the Nier Replicant remake of the original game in 2021, Square Enix has said nothing concrete about a mainline sequel.

Hope has gone back and forward too. Saito said in November 2023 that

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but it wouldn't be soon as the pair were working on a separate project. But a few months later in March 2024, Taro seemingly

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.

Nier: Automata was a standout success for Square Enix thanks to strong critical reception and sales to match.

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, IGN said: "Nier: Automata is a great action role-playing game filled with beautiful locations and zany, fun-filled combat."

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at

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