NieR: Automata Heroes Appear in Killer Inn - Square Enix Tries to Save Troubled Project

Square Enix is trying to revive the asymmetrical online action game Killer Inn with the help of another popular franchise. The developers have launched a large in-game event with a NieR: Automata crossover. As part of the collaboration, cosmetic skins for androids 2B and 9S have appeared in the game, along with a themed battle pass, emotes, banners, and unique profile titles.

At the same time, the company held a sale with a 75% discount and opened access to a free trial version to lower the entry barrier for new audiences. Progress from the demo, where users can participate in matches with other players, will be fully transferred to the paid version if players decide to purchase it before the promotion ends on June 4.

The emergency measures are due to the game's weak start. Killer Inn was released in Steam Early Access in February of this year and immediately faced harsh criticism from the community. Currently, the project has only 44% positive reviews, and recently the flow of negativity has only intensified. Users complain about the game's rawness, regular server crashes, poor balance between sides, and critical bugs that hinder normal gameplay.

According to Square Enix's initial plan, Killer Inn is supposed to spend about eight months in Steam Early Access, after which version 1.0 is planned for release. Whether the game will reach a full release is still unclear. According to SteamDB data, the collaboration did manage to attract a few players and increase the peak online by about three times. However, this is a growth from approximately 50 to 150 people, which hardly saves a game with matches for 24 participants.