Tencent has reportedly cancelled an unannounced Nier mobile game

Tencent has reportedly cancelled an unannounced mobile game based on Square Enix’s Nier series.

According to Reuters, development was halted in December after the Chinese gaming giant failed to find an adequate monetisation model for the title.

High development costs, royalty fees and platform fees contributed to the decision to axe the project, the publication’s sources claimed.

The game had been in development for almost two years when the plug was pulled, they said.

The last notable Nier release was a port of Nier: Automata, subtitled The End of Yorha Edition, which was released for Switch in October 2022.

Developed by PlatinumGames and published by Square Enix, Nier: Automata was originally released for PS4 and PC in 2017, before making its way to Xbox One in 2018.

Square Enix said last year that the game had sold over 7.5 million copies.

During Tencent’s annual meeting last week, co-founder and CEO Pony Ma reportedly expressed concern that it could lose its status as the world’s largest gaming company.

“Gaming is our flagship business… But in the past year, we have faced significant challenges,” he said, according to Reuters. “We have found ourselves at a loss, as our competitors continue to produce new products, leaving us feeling having achieved nothing.”

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