There are a lot of notable video game birthdays in 2021. It turns out that 1986 was a baby boon for the gaming industry that produced franchises like The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and many more. We’ve already seen celebrations for many of those games, but prepare for one more.
The Dragon Quest series turns 35 in May 2021, which means it’s finally old enough to fight a mid-game boss. The series has been a tremendous success in Japan over the past three and a half decades, but it’s only recently started to gain attention stateside. That’s largely thanks to Dragon Quest XI, which was a huge hit among RPG fans.
With the birthday year in full swing, that’s left fans anticipating that a proper sequel could come any time now. So is Dragon Quest 12 happening? Here’s what you need to know about the inevitable sequel.
Is Dragon Quest 12 in development?
While we don’t have much in the way of firm details, we do know that Dragon Quest 12 is actively in development. That confirmation came about in a roundabout manner, though.
Back in January 2020, series creator Yuji Horii tweeted a New Year’s message. According to a translation from Twitter user @BlackKite, that message quietly name-dropped Dragon Quest 12.
“Last year we started with publishing the movie Dragon Quest: Your Story, then releasing the Switch version of Dragon Quest 11, the mobile version of DQ Walk, the announcement of The Adventure of Dai anime along with its game adaptation, the production of [DQ]12 and more,” Horii tweeted.
It was always a foregone conclusion that the game would exist, but the confirmation at least means it’ll come sooner than we were expecting.
When is the Dragon Quest 12 release date?
There’s no word on when we’ll see it yet. Considering that this is the 35th anniversary of the series, it’s not impossible that it could land during holiday season 2021. More realistically, we may just get a proper reveal by that time instead with a 2022 (or later) release.
Is there a Dragon Quest 12 trailer?
Same boat as above. We expect to see footage very soon (see below), but we haven’t even seen teaser art at this stage. Expect that to change sometime in 2021.
When will Dragon Quest 12 be revealed?
If those last two points were disappointing, here’s the good news: A reveal might be just over the horizon. Square Enix will host a special Dragon Quest 35th anniversary presentation on May 27, 2021. The showcase is on Tokyo time, so it’ll start at 11 a.m. Eastern.
The showcase is set to feature two distinct parts. The first part is going to focus on updates to current games and merchandise. Interestingly, the second part is going to focus on a “new line-up in the Dragon Quest series.”
That’s a little vague, but it seems to imply that a few new game announcements are coming. Considering that Dragon Quest 12 is definitely in development, it’s safe to guess that it could show up here as well. Make sure to tune into the broadcast on YouTube on May 27.
