Happy Dragon Quest Day! Japanese video game studio Square Enix is celebrating the 40-year anniversary of its longstanding Dragon Quest franchise with some special reveals, including the reboot of Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate. Square Enix shared the game’s new name — Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams — in a new post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). “We are proud to announce Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams!” the team announced before directing fans to a special YouTube video featuring the “first look at #DQ12 with messages from game designer, Yuji Horii and executive producer, Yosuke Saito.”
After a nostalgic opening scene, Dragon Quest XII‘s executive producer, Yosuke Saito, thanked fans for decades of dedication. “It was 40 years ago today that the very first DRAGON QUEST game launched and thanks to all your support, the series is still going strong. We can’t thank you enough.” Designer Yuji Horii added that, “if it wasn’t for the fans who’ve stuck with [them], as well as all the fantastic staff who’ve worked on the games over the years, we wouldn’t have made it this far.”
After expressing their gratitude, Saito and Horii shared that, while the crew is hard at work on Dragon Quest XII, the journey to launch is going to take a bit longer than anticipated.
“[D]ue to a reshuffle of the team and a restart of development, it’s going to be a bit longer till it’s in your hands.” Executive producer Saito continued: “Work on the original version, DRAGON QUEST XII: The Flames of Fate, hit a lot of hurdles along the way. But as we kept talking with Mr. Horii and pinned down what a mainline DRAGON QUEST game should look like, we decided to move things around and start over from scratch.”
Square Enix celebrates Dragon Quest Day 2026 with several new announcements
While there’s no timeline for Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams‘ release, Square Enix did dish details about a few other projects:
- DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Withered World. The latest to join Square Enix’s DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS series, 2017’s DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Withered World will hit Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PS5, XBOX Series X|S, and Windows PC via Steam. Once again, players can join co-protagonists Bianca and Nera, famously from DRAGON QUEST V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride, in a stunning adventure.
- DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age. More good news for Nintendo Switch users! DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on Thursday, September 24, 2026. Players will see familiar DRAGON QUEST XI S features upon release, as well as a new one allowing players to choose between two new display modes; one mode prioritizes graphics quality, the other, frame rate and performance. Pre-orders for DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age are live now.
- DRAGON QUEST Smash/Grow. To celebrate DQ Day 2026, players can take part in an exclusive event packed with rewards and in-game goings-on. A co-op battle event, “Drive Back the Dragonlord’s Army,” offers gamers the opportunity to nab Princess Gwaelin’s equipment as well as a special Dragon Quest Anniversary Login Bonus boasting 1,000 free Gems. Players can download DRAGON QUEST Smash/Grow now via Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store.
- Updated sales metrics. Additionally, SQUARE ENIX also announced on DQ Day that the recently released and critically acclaimed DRAGON QUEST I & II HD-2D Remake and DRAGON QUEST III HD-2D Remake, which tell the tale of the Edrick Trilogy, have now sold a combined 4 million globally.
Players can keep up with the latest Dragon Quest news via the franchise’s Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Discord. Additionally, gamers can find more on the official website.
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