Takehiro Andou, a Square Enix mobile developer who worked on titles such as Crystal Defenders has his own feature blog in Famitsu magazine, where he recently spoke with Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii to talk about possibilities for the next game in the series.
Now that Square Enix has released the smartphone version of their Dragon Quest X MMORPG, some have wondered what this could mean for the future of the franchise. In Andou’s latest column, he decided to ask the main Dragon Quest man himself.
During the interview, Andou says that without a doubt, we can expect a new Dragon Quest title in the near future. With this in mind, he mentions that there must be fans who’d like to be able to play the next Dragon Quest game on both consoles and smartphones; however, he acknowledges that the devices are quite different in terms of development, so it must also be different to make games for them.
He then asks about the possibility of seeing the next installment of the main numbered Dragon Quest series on mobile devices.
“I don’t think that it’s as easy as it sounds,” says Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii. “At the current stage, there are no talks about making Dragon Quest XI for smartphones. I believe that there’s still plenty left to overcome before we release a proper sequel for smartphones.”
“That’s quite the bold statement,” responds Andou. “On the other hand, my main battlefield lies within making games for smartphones, so a part of me tells myself ‘smartphones are game consoles, too’ while I work. However, going back to what you just said, I clearly understand what you mean.”
“Smartphones are smartphones, and they’re not game consoles,” states Horii in response to Andou. “I don’t think they’ll be replacing game consoles, but rather, I believe it’s a matter of offering something to those who only have smartphones.”
