Is Square Enix officially about to begin development on Dragon Quest XII? Perhaps, but we do know that the team that worked on Dragon Quest XI is officially hiring staffers for a “next generation” Dragon Quest title. What this title exactly is is unconfirmed as of now, but Square Enix is specifically looking for a battle planner, facial motion designer, 2D background designer, and a technical artist for this game.
The news comes from Dragon Quest XI director Takeshi Uchikawa, who specifically noted “the Dragon Quest XI team” is working on this project, increasing the likelihood this could indeed be Dragon Quest XII. According to Uchikawa, the goal of this project is to “deliver a new appeal of Dragon Quest to fans worldwide.”
The statement explicitly states that this is a “next generation” Dragon Quest, meaning this is something we won’t be seeing for quite some time. Considering Dragon Quest XI had just released back in 2017 in Japan, that shouldn’t necessarily be surprising.
No where does this confirm that this new project is Dragon Quest XII. However, we do know that preparations were underway for the next mainline entry in the iconic series. The statement from Uchikawa does note that “the planning stages of development have wrapped up” for this mystery title.
It certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see Square Enix attempting to capitalize on the success of Dragon Quest XI. Back in 2018 it was revealed that the turn-based RPG moved 4 million units, though that number has no doubt grown since then. Dragon Quest XI will soon be released on the Nintendo Switch with extra content, though it’s unconfirmed whether the PlayStation 4 and PC will see this new content, as well.
While Dragon Quest XII is still unannounced, fans can still get their fix when Dragon Quest Builders 2 releases in July 2019. Do you think this “next generation” Dragon Quest title will be Dragon Quest XII? Let us know!
[Source: Square Enix via Gematsu]
