Square Enix lawyers elbow in to shut down Yoko Taro fan archive, bafflingly, 6 months after he'd thanked its creators for all the love
You know, as a Final Fantasy 14 player—a game which happened to have a Nier crossover raid back in Shadowbringers—I’ve been increasingly confused and alarmed by the wider blunders of Square Enix as a company, and now I’ve got one more to add to the list.
Accord’s Library, a fan website that gathers and archives lore from the Nier and Drakengard games, has been told to shut things down. This was shared on the site’s Discord server (thanks, Gamesradar), which reads:
“These past few years have been a pleasure, but we regret to inform you all that we’ve been contacted by the Square Enix Legal Team. And after some private communications, based on the outlined requirements we have come to the conclusion that Accord’s Library must close its doors by the end of the month. While we are sad to have to go, we also must respect the wishes of the Legal Team.
“On behalf of the entire Council for Accord’s Library, we sincerely thank you for your support and friendship over the years. We hope that you will continue to use the Discord, though we understand if this is where we part ways.”
(Image credit: Accord’s Library Discord)
The website, which started operating in 2021, collected artwork, news, lore, and—what might’ve been the thing that killed it—scans of various media such as manga and novellas. Mind, it should also be kept in mind that these entries also provided pricing information and knowledge on “when and how it was released”, while also giving fans access to some pieces of media that aren’t in circulation anymore, alongside fan-translations. As much as it might’ve crossed some legal boundaries, the intention seemed to be sharing and conserving Yoko Taro’s work.
Speaking of Yoko Taro, the man himself paid the website a visit around six months ago, and not only did he have zero problems with it, he actively thanked them for their work—all he wanted was for them to remove a picture from the site with his actual face in it, which the site did.
A message from Taro on April 13, shared by the site on its Discord, reads: “The series of NieR and Drag-On Dragoon (Drakengard) was niche, but thanks to all the fans who supported us, we were able to make it this far. Once again, please convey my thanks to all of you. Thank you very much.”
This is, unfortunately, a huge bummer. While Square’s within its rights, here, this decision smacks of corporate short-sightedness—particularly when the series’ creator seemingly only had kind words to say. Unfortunately, given Yoko isn’t technically a full-time employee at Square Enix, and that the company holds the IP rights to the series, his word doesn’t really matter. Bleak.
It’s especially annoying for fans of Nier and Drakengard since there’s no guarantee the company will have any plans to re-release anything the website had archived. This is a company who lost $140 million to literal content abandonment, I’m not holding out hope. The website will be online in a limited capacity until October 31, after which it’s gone.
