This was partly due to the fact that 20% of Japan's population owned a DS, and partly because Dragon Quest 9 itself was a highly cognizant product designed around the intricacies of the Japanese market.Īt the time, co-op multiplayer games were starting to become trendy in Japan, prompted by the success of Monster Hunter and Animal Crossing. Dragon Quest 9 on Nintendo DSĬase in point: 2009 DS title Dragon Quest 9, was played by everyone from 18-year-old men to 60-year-old women. So Square Enix's general approach to the series had historically been to make games for whatever the most popular platform in Japan was. Even people that don't typically play video games play Dragon Quest - sort of like FIFA or Madden. Dragon Quest's popularity lies in the generations of Japanese families have grown up playing the games. There was only one explanation: Square Enix was thinking beyond Japan. It felt like an odd decision, given that Dragon Quest is largely a Japan-centric franchise, and the market for home console games had all but dried up there. Taking a look at the game's history and development offers insight into the challenges Square Enix faces with Dragon Quest 12 and the future of the series.ĭragon Quest 11 was first mentioned by series creator Yuji Horii in 2014, in which he indicated it was being developed for home consoles, as opposed to portable platforms like the last several Dragon Quest games before it. But if you were to look a little more closely, it took Square significantly more time, effort, and money to reach those numbers than it should have - and Dragon Quest 11 may have been a slightly misguided affair on the whole.
On the surface, those are promising numbers.
In September 2020, Square Enix announced that Dragon Quest 11 had shipped over six million units worldwide, making it the highest selling game in the series so far.
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