Dragon Quest series creator Yuji Horii has announced a 40th anniversary livestream that will include news about what he describes as "the next game" in the franchise, according to GamesRadar. The news arrives as Dragon Quest 12, which was announced back in 2021, continues its prolonged silence with no meaningful updates.
Horii's teaser draws direct comparisons to the series' 35th anniversary stream, which served as a platform for multiple game announcements and updates. That event gave fans a roadmap of what Square Enix had cooking across the broader Dragon Quest universe, so expectations for this upcoming broadcast are understandably high.
What could 'the next game' mean?
The big question, of course, is whether "the next game" refers to Dragon Quest 12, which was officially announced under the subtitle The Flames of Fate. The mainline entry has been conspicuously absent from Square Enix's slate for years now, leaving fans to wonder whether development has hit serious turbulence or simply gone dark intentionally.
It's also worth considering that "the next game" could point to something else entirely - a spinoff, a remake, or a title in the vein of Dragon Quest Treasures or the Builders series. The Dragon Quest brand has historically supported a wide ecosystem of spin-offs alongside its mainline releases, so the phrasing alone doesn't confirm a DQ12 update.
A franchise at a crossroads
Dragon Quest celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2026, marking four decades since the original Famicom RPG helped define the genre in Japan. For a series that commands near-national-holiday status in its home country, Square Enix will likely want to show up with something substantial for the milestone.
Dragon Quest 11, the most recent mainline entry, launched in Japan in 2017 and came to the West in 2018 - followed by an expanded S edition in 2019. The gap between mainline entries is already significant, and the fanbase has been patient. With a formal anniversary stream now confirmed and game news explicitly promised, there's genuine reason to believe Square Enix is finally ready to pull back the curtain on whatever comes next for this beloved JRPG pillar.
No date for the anniversary stream has been confirmed at the time of writing.
