Today, May 27, 2026, marks exactly 40 years since Dragon Quest launched on the Famicom in Japan. The franchise that helped define the JRPG genre, outsold Final Fantasy domestically for decades, and inspired practically every RPG that came after it is celebrating its anniversary – and series creator Yuji Horii has promised that today’s broadcast includes news about the next game.
Square Enix hosted a 10-minute “Update from the Dragon Quest Team” stream today at 6 a.m. PT / 9 a.m. ET. Ahead of the broadcast, the Square Enix Dragon Quest YouTube playlist had eight private/unlisted videos – a sign that multiple reveals were planned, not just one.
The Mystery of Dragon Quest XII
The elephant in the room is Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate. First announced in May 2021 at the series’ 35th anniversary event, DQ XII was teased as a significant departure for the franchise – darker in tone, more adult-focused, and featuring a revamped battle system that would still retain turn-based elements. Horii described it as a game about “the meaning of life.”
In the five years since that announcement, Square Enix has said virtually nothing about it. No gameplay, no platforms, no release window. The silence has been remarkable even by Dragon Quest standards – the series is known for long development cycles, but DQ XII’s radio silence has outlasted even the famously patient fanbase’s ability to stay calm.
Horii himself broke the silence recently by accidentally teasing the stream on his personal podcast before Square Enix could make the official announcement – which is very on-brand for a beloved 70-year-old game designer. He confirmed: “We’ll be able to make an announcement about the next game, among various other things.”
40 Years of Dragon Quest
The original Dragon Quest launched May 27, 1986, designed by Yuji Horii, with character art by the late Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball) and music by Koichi Sugiyama. The game was inspired by Western RPGs like Ultima and Wizardry but streamlined the experience into something accessible to a mass audience – a formula that proved enormously influential.
In Japan, new Dragon Quest releases have historically been scheduled for national holidays to prevent workers and students from skipping work and school to play. That’s the level of cultural impact this series carries in its home country.
Recent years have seen strong entries in the franchise: Dragon Quest XI S remains one of the finest JRPGs of the modern era, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined launched to positive reviews in February 2026, and the spin-off line (Dragon Quest Monsters, Dragon Quest Builders) continues to expand the universe. But the mainline series’ future has been the open question hanging over everything since 2021.
Today’s broadcast was the moment fans have been waiting for. Check the official Dragon Quest YouTube channel to see what was revealed.
