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Yuji Horii, creator of the Dragon Quest franchise, revealed that Dragon Quest XII has been in development since last year in a celebratory New Year tweet (via Nintendo Life).
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age released in 2017 in Japan and in 2018 in the West. Developer Armor Project and developer and publisher Square Enix are very happy with its success, as it has sold over 5.5 million copies worldwide in just two years. Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition came out for the Nintendo Switch in September 2019, boasting extra improvements and features for the portable port. It skyrocketed on the Switch release charts, selling over 300,000 copies in its launch week in Japan, which is rather significant for a non-first-party title.
Horii announced the next installment in the series through a tweet which was translated by Twitter user BlackKite. The video game designer has been working on Dragon Quest for over three decades now, and expressed his appreciation to all who have supported the franchise. “Thank you very much to all users who have cheered on Dragon Quest until now, and also to all of the many staff members who have supported me. I don’t know how long I can go on, but I feel like I want to do my best just a little bit more,” he said. Dragon Quest XII began development at some point last year, he confirmed, and so we could expect to see it release within the first few years of the next console generation.
We can’t be certain that it will come to the West, though. Favourable reviews won’t be enough to sway Square Enix to localise future iterations of Dragon Quest. “We need Dragon Quest to sell in the West, even just a certain amount, if we want to keep making [localised versions],” stated producer Hokuto Okamoto. Whatever that margin is, it is hoped that Dragon Quest XI surpassed it in these regions so that players get to enjoy the next chapter in the story.
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is out now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
