Update 13:07 BST 25/11/22: Well, the black board was covering something but, as revealed by Twitter user aitaikimochi, it turns out that it was just a new sales figure for Automata, which has now surpassed 7 million sales.

Nier fans think that a new announcement could be happening at Nier Automata Fan Festival 2022, which is taking place in Japan today and tomorrow.

Right now, the Nier: Automata Fan Festival is taking place in the Tokyo Garden Theater in Japan, with a concert and discussion between the developers planned to take place during the event. Although Yosuke Saito has claimed that there won't be any kind of announcement at the festival, a black panel that seems to be covering up a logo has fans thinking otherwise.

Related: Final Fantasy 14 Community Spotlight: The Higuri Regalia Largesse Annual Giveaway Extravaganza

As showcased by Twitter user aitaikimochi, one of the stages at the Nier fan festival has logos for entries in the series so far, including one for Nier: Replicant and another for Nier: Automata. This wouldn't be too noteworthy on its own, but there's space for a third logo that's currently being covered up by a black board.

This has caused fans to speculate that something new for the series is going to be announced at the fan fest, especially considering the covered-up board is right next to the two main entries in the series. Yosuke Saito also seems to be playing along with the speculation, as he tweeted a picture of the black board, specifically pointing it out.

Knowing series director Yoko Taro, it's possible that the whole thing is just some kind of big joke from him, but it has also been five years since Automata, so it's possible that something has been in the works in that time. There's also a chance that it's just going to have the logo for the anime or for the mobile game, Nier: Reincarnation, but we'll have to wait and see.

If this seems familiar, that might be because a similar thing was done to announce Kingdom Hearts 4 at the series' 20th-anniversary celebration event earlier this year. Prior to the game being announced, attendants at the event noticed a panel covering a portion of an art piece by Tetsuya Nomura, which was later revealed to be an image of Sora in Kingdom Hearts 4.

Next: Pokemon Is Never Going To Get Better If We Keep On Buying It