Square Enix has indicated that the hotly anticipated Dragon Quest XI on PlayStation 4 likely won’t see a release in North America and Europe until late 2017.
The Japanese software behemoth recently slapped a tentative May 2017 release date on the upcoming JRPG for its native country, which means we probably won’t get our hands on the game until later in the year.
While Square Enix has said it’s aiming to get the game out in Japan before then, it still doesn’t look likely that western gamers will be getting their mitts on Dragon Quest XI until several months down the line.
Dragon Quest XI is also in development for the Nintendo 3DS, although the added horse power of PS4 has allowed the development team to incorporate high-definition visuals, thanks to the use of Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4. The battle system will adhere to the series’ long-standing turn-based mechanics.
Dragon Quest celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, having first launched for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) back in 1986. Since then, the venerable JRPG franchise has graced numerous home consoles, including the Game Boy, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PC, Wii, and Wii U.
In addition to the mainline series, Dragon Quest has also received a number of spin-off titles, chief among which includes the Dragon Quest Monsters RPG offshot. The success of the franchise also facilitated a move into other media, including novels, anime, manga, and more. Dragon Quest remains one of the most popular video game series in Japan, and has sold over 64 million copies globally.
The original Dragon Quest has been cited as one of the most influential video games of all time, and for many is seen as the first true console RPG and a building block for future games within the genre.