Dragon Quest Turns 40: Square Enix Reveals DQ XII: Beyond Dreams and Dragon Quest Monsters
May 27, 2026 marks Dragon Quest Day — the 40th anniversary of the beloved JRPG franchise. Square Enix hosted a special 10-minute broadcast with major announcements for fans worldwide.
Dragon Quest XII has a new name — Beyond Dreams. After a development restart, the project finally showed its first gameplay footage.
On Dragon Quest Day 2026, Square Enix held a special anniversary broadcast marking the franchise's 40th birthday. Series creator Yuji Horii and executive producer Yosuke Saito personally presented two major announcements.
Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams
The main event was the official reveal of the new mainline entry, now titled Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams — previously announced back in 2021 as "The Flames of Fate." According to the developers, the project underwent a full development restart under new leadership, resulting in a changed concept and a completely refreshed logo.
In-development gameplay footage was shown for the first time. Yuji Horii stated the game reimagines key mechanics of the series while preserving the signature Dragon Quest soul. No release date was announced.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World
The second announcement was Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World, a new entry in the monster-collecting spin-off series. The dual protagonists are Bianca and Nera — fan-favorite characters from Dragon Quest V. The game will release on Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and the Microsoft Store. No release date announced yet.
40 Years of Dragon Quest
Dragon Quest originally launched in Japan on May 27, 1986. Over four decades, the series has become one of the most influential in the JRPG genre, with Square Enix reporting over 88 million copies sold worldwide. The franchise is so iconic in Japan that new mainline releases have historically triggered national conversations about work-life balance on release days.