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Square Enix Considers Dragon Quest X MMORPG Release in the West
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
Dragon Quest mobile producer Noriyoshi Fujimoto and executive producer Yū Miyake told Siliconera at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle that the company would "love" to release the Dragon Quest X massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in the West. Fujimoto stated, however, that the investment would have to be considered first.
"We have to consider the operation and logistics of how to make that feasible,” Miyake said. “We also have to think about it from a business standpoint. With Final Fantasy XI and XIV, it's a global-scale endeavor. In terms of Dragon Quest, the way it's perceived in the different countries is very, very different. How it's perceived in Japan is different than how it's perceived in the United States.”
“In addition, we'd have to build a new data center for pretty much every location, and we need to make sure that makes sense as a business. We want to be able to operate in the different regions. Again, we would love to do it, but we're still trying to work out the details and figure out what would work best [were we to bring it abroad].”
Square Enix first mentioned bringing the game "overseas" at a financial meeting in May.
Fujimoto said the company is also considering Dragon Quest VII and Dragon Quest: Rocket Slime for release in the U.S.
A 3DS version of Dragon Quest X is heading to Japan. This version will use cloud game technology to offer a gameplay experience comparable to those on Wii, Wii U, and Windows. The game has over one million copes sold in Japan.
