Summary
Right now,Dragon Questfans are eating well. The latestDragon Quest Monsterstitle launched at the end of 2023 asDragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, and the more experimentalDragon Quest Treasureswas released a year before that.Dragon Quest 10 Offlinehas been rolling out in various Asian regions, and fueling theories that a more widespread release will come soon. Long-standing promises forDragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate, as well as the gorgeousDragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, have also given fans hope forDragon Quest’s future, and the wait forDQ3 HD-2Dis about to pay off.
The June 2024 Nintendo Direct revealed thatDragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remakewill be 2024’s year-endingDragon Questtitle, and it’s no longer alone. At some point in 2025,Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remakewill join its prequel to complete the original trilogy ofinfluentialDragon QuestRPGs. This has been a welcome surprise for many fans, and it means that both they and series newcomers won’t need to wait long to experience the definitive forms of these classic titles. However, behind the celebrations before these announcements is growing concern thatDragon Quest 12may be further off than anyone expected.
Three Years On, Dragon Quest 12 Is A No-Show
On July 28, 2025, Square Enix punctuated a livestream celebratingDragon Quest’s 35th anniversary with the announcement ofDragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate. Three years later, players have not heard a single new detail about the game, but its development seems to have been rocky. Despite continual messages fromDragon Questcreator Yuji Horii that the game is coming along, leaks pointing to delays and Square Enix staff shuffling have madewaiting for news onDragon Quest 12’s release datean exercise in frustration. Even with this game’s development likely being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and the deaths of composer Koichi Sugiyama and artist Akira Toriyama, it feels like concrete news should have materialized by now.
Other Dragon Quest Titles Can’t Launch Near DQ12
At leastDragon Questfans have the remakes ofDQ1,2, and3to look forward to in the meantime. The downside to that, however, is that Square Enix may not want to launch these games andDQ12near one another, as doing so could affect their sales. Some release disparity betweenDragon Quest 3andDragon Quest 1 & 2is puzzlingyet potentially fair, but throwingDragon Quest 12into the mix could be a recipe for disaster. It should avoid competition, but that doesn’t make the thought ofDragon Quest 12releasing later than 2025 any more appealing.
Predicting Dragon Quest 12’s Launch Window
Even though its release quality should remain unaffected, and maybe even improve, havingDragon Quest 12pushed back again after three years of silence doesn’t feel good. How far that is remains the biggest question, and several possibilities present themselves. The most charitable, but also the least likely, is thatDragon Quest 12could make the first half of 2025, withDragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D RemakefillingDragon Quest 3 HD-2D’s holiday slot.Rumors of the Nintendo Switch successorlanding near the original Switch’s March window could support this, but fans shouldn’t get their hopes up.
Dragon Quest 12 Is Probably A Ways Off
More likely is thatDragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remakewill be saved for the Switch 2’s likely-stacked launch window,Nintendo Switch 2025 anniversary or not, whileDragon Quest 12arrives at the end of 2025 or later. 2026 feels like a safe bet, as that will be the year ofDragon Quest’s 40th anniversary, and launching a new mainline title then would feel poetic. It’s bittersweet to have such excitingDragon Quest HD-2D Remakescover for the absence of the even higher-profileDragon Quest 12, but if that’s what needs to happen to maximize their sales and quality, then so be it.
