If you’ve been keeping tabs on NieR:Automata’s expanding universe of guest appearances, you already know 2B has a habit of showing up in places she has no business being. Add another one to the list. Today, Square Enix launched a Free Trial for KILLER INN, the asymmetrical 24-player murder mystery shooter from Tactic Studios, and rolled out a limited-time NieR:Automata collaboration alongside it.
The collab adds two new skins, “Cosplayer 2B” and “Martial Artist 9S,” along with eight NieR-themed banners, eight pixel art emotes, eight collaboration titles, and a limited-time Battle Pass that lets players grind XP for themed rewards. None of which is surprising at this point. As I noted when NieR:Automata hit 10 million units sold back in February, 2B is essentially a running joke at this point. She’ll eventually appear in every possible game that does collaborations.
As for the free trial, there are no playtime restrictions, though free players are limited in match eligibility and which characters they can pick. Progress carries over if you decide to buy in, and the base game is sitting at a 75 percent discount until June 4. Square Enix is clearly trying to give KILLER INN a second chance at finding an audience after a questionable Early Access launch in February.
Patch 0.9.3 is also dropping today. The major changes include shifting Showdown mode to start at six players remaining instead of three (with auto-adjustment for smaller lobbies), simplified defenses against instant kills, improved beginner matchmaking, and a custom matches update that lets all participants use characters unlocked by the host. There’s also the usual round of character and weapon balance changes and bug fixes.
Unfortunately the allure of seeing how 2B fits in a 24-player murder mystery isn’t enough for me to take a look at KILLER INN. I hate to say it, but this one doesn’t seem long for this world.
