Nier: Automata’s mysterious church revealed to be work of modders

polygon.com:

The mystery of Nier: Automata’s hidden church has been solved. Or rather, the people behind it have fessed up to creating the mod that made it possible — and to trolling the community with a monthlong reveal of their work.

On Thursday, the Reddit account sadfutago, which first posted about the undiscovered church in early June and released multiple videos that previously unseen content, posted a series of new images from the church area with cryptic messages. Those messages ultimately led to a Twitch account that streamed even more footage of the church, a new boss battle, and another completely separate area. Viewers were baffled — but some had caught on to what was happening by this point.

At the end of a playthrough of Nier: Automata’s church area, the people behind it revealed themselves and the modding work they’d done to make it possible. Three modders, going by the names DevolasRevenge, Woeful_Wolf, and RaiderB, explained what they had accomplished: They modded Nier: Automata in a way that few thought possible, and created something so carefully designed that many thought PlatinumGames or Square Enix themselves were responsible.

“Everything we have shared has been completely in-game,” the group said, “no editing was used. We have been loving all the discussions and theories — it has been an amazing journey. It has been inspiring to see the community come together after so many years, it has made all the hard work well worth it.”

Modder DevolasRevenge, credited with designing the new map, thanked viewers and fans for coming along for the ride. “Whether you expected this outcome or not, I hope you enjoyed the impact,” they said. “It was never meant to blow up this big, but just to confuse a few people on Twitter