Yuji Horii Confirms That Dragon Quest XII Has Begun Development

We now know that Dragon Quest XII is officially in development.

Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii confirmed the news on his personal Twitter account noting that production on the next Dragon Quest role-playing game began last year. Per a translation by Gematsu, the gaming legend also stressed that the Dragon Quest XII release “is still a little while ahead,” so fans shouldn’t expect a ton of news on the Japanese role-playing game. He then asked fans for their support this year and said that there may be things “that we can release before that.”

あけましておめでとうございます。下にあげた以外にも、まだまだ言えないものもありますが、12は、まだちょっと先になりそうです。でも、その前に発売できるものもあるかも。今年も、よろしくお願いしますね😊 pic.twitter.com/dovPbbkydl

— 堀井雄二 (@YujiHorii) January 1, 2020

The Japanese designer also reflected on the iconic series’s big 2019, which saw the release of Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age on Nintendo Switch, a film called Dragon Quest: Your Story, and the Japanese mobile release of Dragon Quest Walk. Square Enix also announced the upcoming anime and game adaptation of the 1989 manga based on the series, Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai, which is set to release in fall 2020. In the west, Dragon Quest Builders 2 also saw a critically acclaimed release (although it came out in 2018 in Japan).

Horii noted that he has been working on the Dragon Quest series for 33 years now and that he’s thankful to continue challenging himself with Dragon Quest XII. “To all the fans who have supported Dragon Quest thus far, as well as the many staff who have sustained it, thank you so much,” said the creator. “While I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep this up, I want to work as hard as I can for a little while longer.”