Top ‘Dragon Quest’ Producer Steps Down in Square Enix Overhaul (CEO shutting down many unannounced projects; placing checks on producers' influence)

[Drblitzk]

He didn't say that the game is multiplatform. And he didn't say it is for adults but that the game will be more adult or mature. People seem to think it'll be a game that's rated M but I think that more mature story might mean the game will be more tragic, like DQ5. It's still a DQ game after all and I don't think they'll want to change their DNA of making DQ games that target people between 5 to 80 years old.

You are right in that he didn't announce multiplatform but He did say the stupid remark of it being for adults, but anyway, I was more making fun of how they decided to start the marketing of the game, as if that meant anything.

My energy is to wait and see. The whole issue is people being hurt/fearful about mainline FF games being Sony exclusive so they’re projecting those feelings on DQ. Even when DQ got two spin-offs exclusive to Switch and every other spin-off was day-to-date with the PS4/5.

The fact remains, only two mainline DQ games skipped a Nintendo system and no one disagrees with Enix for doing it. So the assumption that DQ12 won’t be on any Nintendo system feels extremely force and concern trolling at worst.

I don't think it has anything to do with FF and more with the fact (by their own actions for the past 10 years) that with the sole exception of Capcom with 1 game, every other big Japanese publisher has shown that they consider the Japanese market as a secondary market for their big investment projects, while also not acknowledging the strength of Nintendo platforms outside Japan, so every project that supposedly is a big investment (like we would assume DQ12 is) is made multiplatform with Nintendo as the exception and with the goal of doing great in America and Europe, and whatever they can get from Japan as a bonus.

Yes, there are games that are lesser investments focused on Japan (DQM3, Momotaro) that are even exclusive to Nintendo hardware, but there is a single game (MHR) where the publisher put a big investment on making a game successful worldwide (which includes Japan).

 

[MechaJackie]

The Doom and Gloom exist because Squeenix has been a mess for the past ten years, the Switch will become Nintendo most successful platform without a mainline DQ releasing on it, with only a late port coming much later, Nintendo doesn't need DQ, the only ones missing out if DQ12 doesn't launch on Switch 2 is Square.
There's also the thing where a lot of Japanese companies seem to think that whatever is popular in Japan is poison to the West, which is just nonsense.

 

[KarlRemarx]

My energy is to wait and see. The whole issue is people being hurt/fearful about mainline FF games being Sony exclusive so they’re projecting those feelings on DQ. Even when DQ got two spin-offs exclusive to Switch and every other spin-off was day-to-date with the PS4/5.

The fact remains, only two mainline DQ games skipped a Nintendo system and no one disagrees with Enix for doing it. So the assumption that DQ12 won’t be on any Nintendo system feels extremely force and concern trolling at worst.

It isn't "concern trolling" to point out, in a thread about SE's producer on DQ being moved out, the production issues that have arisen from developing the same game multiple times over as a result of initially targeting PS4 and then desperately backpedalling to retrofit an (unlocalised) 3DS version and Switch version, along with literally delisting and replacing the graphically enhanced version of the game on PC, the de facto platform for customers looking for enhanced graphics options. To say nothing of the mixed messaging that results from SE's usual issues of completely arbitrary and inconsistent quality, scheduling, and platform/international availability.

If you hypothetically bought into Square's claims of "expanding the Dragon Quest audience in the West" and bought DQ11 day 1 on Steam in 2018, here's the timeline of what followed:

-Later that year an enhanced version is announced for the Switch only
-The enhanced Switch version is released in 2019
-In July 2020 the enhanced version is then announced for Steam
-In December 2020, the enhanced version is released on Steam and the original game you bought is delisted. You must pay the full price of the game again to benefit from the enhancements, with the catch that the game now looks worse

In that time anyone in this "expanded audience" who actually wanted to play other mainline games has had to either:

-Learn Japanese to play the Switch-only, Japan-only DQX
-Dig for 2nd hand copies of DS/3DS games to play on long-defunct hardware
-Own a Switch, where they have an arbitrary selection of only some mobile ports of the oldest games in the series

Or, you can take your chances with a series of spinoff games of highly variable quality - unless they are also arbitrarily Switch exclusive.

Now, if you're ambiently interested in "Anime/Japanese RPG", you as a customer can either navigate all of the above, or you can get something from Mihoyo for free on your phone that looks an order of magnitude better than most of the lower-production spinoffs following DQXI, or the wide range of other offerings that, even from basket cases like Atlus, are trending towards multiplatform, simultaneous international releases with higher production values.

SE's general problem is that, either due to misplaced arrogance or genuine production issues, being a customer of theirs is an exercise in being jerked around because you are kept in the dark as to whether you need to buy and retain multiple pieces of hardware (including legacy, out of production hardware) to play games even in the same series, or perhaps there is an arbitrary timer before they'll give you what you want. SE don't have the market presence to treat customers in this way anymore, there are too many competing entertainment options who do simultaneous, international releases and so get to spend their marketing budget on the broadest possible customer base.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

My energy is to wait and see. The whole issue is people being hurt/fearful about mainline FF games being Sony exclusive so they’re projecting those feelings on DQ.

Mainline FF has a long history with Sony and no history with Nintendo for 30 years. No offense but this is you projecting. No one equates DQ with FF.

Even when DQ got two spin-offs exclusive to Switch and every other spin-off was day-to-date with the PS4/5.

The fact remains, only two mainline DQ games skipped a Nintendo system and no one disagrees with Enix for doing it. So the assumption that DQ12 won’t be on any Nintendo system feels extremely force and concern trolling at worst.

Like I said. Game was announced 3 years ago and SE didn't specify platforms. They are the atchitects of this situation. That's who you should point your ire towards. There are about a million examples of Japanese games that should be on the Switch skipping it. It is not surprising that people worry about DQ12 even if the Switch got some spinoffs and low budget entries over an 8 year span.

Either SE is dumb as fuck or the game will be on Switch or at least Switch 2. I see no reason for concern. But SE have proven several times that they are in fact dumb as fuck.

 

[Clay_ghost]

It isn't "concern trolling" to point out, in a thread about SE's producer on DQ being moved out, the production issues that have arisen from developing the same game multiple times over as a result of initially targeting PS4 and then desperately backpedalling to retrofit an (unlocalised) 3DS version and Switch version, along with literally delisting and replacing the graphically enhanced version of the game on PC, the de facto platform for customers looking for enhanced graphics options. To say nothing of the mixed messaging that results from SE's usual issues of completely arbitrary and inconsistent quality, scheduling, and platform/international availability.

If you hypothetically bought into Square's claims of "expanding the Dragon Quest audience in the West" and bought DQ11 day 1 on Steam in 2018, here's the timeline of what followed:

-Later that year an enhanced version is announced for the Switch only
-The enhanced Switch version is released in 2019
-In July 2020 the enhanced version is then announced for Steam
-In December 2020, the enhanced version is released on Steam and the original game you bought is delisted. You must pay the full price of the game again to benefit from the enhancements, with the catch that the game now looks worse

In that time anyone in this "expanded audience" who actually wanted to play other mainline games has had to either:

-Learn Japanese to play the Switch-only, Japan-only DQX
-Dig for 2nd hand copies of DS/3DS games to play on long-defunct hardware
-Own a Switch, where they have an arbitrary selection of only some mobile ports of the oldest games in the series

Or, you can take your chances with a series of spinoff games of highly variable quality - unless they are also arbitrarily Switch exclusive.

Now, if you're ambiently interested in "Anime/Japanese RPG", you as a customer can either navigate all of the above, or you can get something from Mihoyo for free on your phone that looks an order of magnitude better than most of the lower-production spinoffs following DQXI, or the wide range of other offerings that, even from basket cases like Atlus, are trending towards multiplatform, simultaneous international releases with higher production values.

SE's general problem is that, either due to misplaced arrogance or genuine production issues, being a customer of theirs is an exercise in being jerked around because you are kept in the dark as to whether you need to buy and retain multiple pieces of hardware (including legacy, out of production hardware) to play games even in the same series, or perhaps there is an arbitrary timer before they'll give you what you want. SE don't have the market presence to treat customers in this way anymore, there are too many competing entertainment options who do simultaneous, international releases and so get to spend their marketing budget on the broadest possible customer base.

DQ 1 to 8 have decent ports on mobile. DQ4 in particular is the definite version for western release with party chat.

Sure, SE could have done more to port them to console (especially 4 to 8 on Switch ) but they are on the platform accessible by most people, smart phone.

 

[KarlRemarx]

DQ 1 to 8 have decent ports on mobile. DQ4 in particular is the definite version for western release with party chat.

Sure, SE could have done more to port them to console (especially 4 to 8 on Switch ) but they are on the platform accessible by most people, smart phone.

Paid apps in the notoriously paid-shy smartphone marketplace, which are arbitrarily absent from their natural homes on modern console/PC hardware, all of which could trivially run them. That is would you would generously call misplaced effort in the attempt to "expand the Dragon Quest audience in the West".

 

[ILikeFeet]

DQ 1 to 8 have decent ports on mobile. DQ4 in particular is the definite version for western release with party chat.

Sure, SE could have done more to port them to console (especially 4 to 8 on Switch ) but they are on the platform accessible by most people, smart phone.

accessible by most people, used by practically no one. paid apps is a desert on mobile

it's like thinking cloud is an acceptable way of telling switch owners to play Kingdom Hearts

 

[KtSlime]

accessible by most people, used by practically no one. paid apps is a desert on mobile

it's like thinking cloud is an acceptable way of telling switch owners to play Kingdom Hearts

I want to point out that people may be mistaken, which do you think is more likely, that people (westerners) aren't buying it because it's on the smartphone, or that they aren't buying it because it is DQ.

I think it is the latter, the DQ games have all continued to rank near the top of the paid games list in Japan regardless of sales, since their release nearly 10 years ago. This is not to say that I don't think they should do console releases, in fact, I think they will but gradually, and will put much more effort into them to make them a bit more distinct. But the phone games are definitely accessible to many of the people who play DQ.

 

[Man God]

Hopefully this leads to the AAAA, Character Action game PS5 permanent exclusive DQ XII of our hopes and dreams.

 

[MechaJackie]

I want to point out that people may be mistaken, which do you think is more likely, that people (westerners) aren't buying it because it's on the smartphone, or that they aren't buying it because it is DQ.

I think it is the latter, the DQ games have all continued to rank near the top of the paid games list in Japan regardless of sales, since their release nearly 10 years ago. This is not to say that I don't think they should do console releases, in fact, I think they will but gradually, and will put much more effort into them to make them a bit more distinct. But the phone games are definitely accessible to many of the people who play DQ.

Even if it is the latter, I don't think you could really make that assumption based off premium mobile games, those are famously unpopular. Not a single one of those ever really performed that well, so DQ being the one in question might not help when far more popular IPs have failed in the area. So even if it's outperforming others in certain markets it probably doesn't mean much when the ceiling is likely that low.

Hopefully this leads to the AAAA, Character Action game PS5 permanent exclusive DQ XII of our hopes and dreams.

Now that's what we have all been asking for.

 

[KtSlime]

Even if it is the latter, I don't think you could really make that assumption based off premium mobile games, those are famously unpopular. Not a single one of those ever really performed that well, so DQ being the one in question might not help when far more popular IPs have failed in the area. So even if it's outperforming others in certain markets it probably doesn't mean much when the ceiling is likely that low.

Now that's what we have all been asking for.

That could be true, but I think a series people don't like being available on a platform those same people don't like isn't of much consequence. If the target audience which does like the series also likes the platform, it will do fine. Japanese do not seem to mind buying and paying for games on smartphone. Like I said, they will likely get around to releasing new versions of all the games on platforms that can command higher prices, however I do not think there is a dire need for urgency in this regard, since the games are available on very popular platforms, and are selling evergreen.

I'd rather they put some work into making new versions (yeah, this could be a monkey paw knowing SE..., but I have faith in Horii) that I can spend 8000¥ on rather than a quick port job of the DS-3DS/Smartphone versions (which I already own 3 times over) dumped on a cart.

 

[DeuceGamer]

I know it isn’t likely to happen at this point, but I’ll continue to hope for a DQX Offline release in the west.

 

[Vena]

This article/thread actually reminded me that a DQ III remake exists but we've not heard a word on it in some time.

 

[StardustTraveler]

This article/thread actually reminded me that a DQ III remake exists but we've not heard a word on it in some time.

It has been almost three years since the 35th anniversary livestream that announced the DQ III remake and DQ XII and we've heard nothing about the games since. Why did they even bother announcing them so early? Because it was a big anniversary?

 

[Vergus]

I know it isn’t likely to happen at this point, but I’ll continue to hope for a DQX Offline release in the west.

I'm still pissed off they made the Chinese version PlayStation console-exclusive. It's releasing on May 28th this year and I have nothing to say except call it a moronic decision. Watch them release it in the West skipping Switch as well.

 

[tentacle-tropes]

I'm still pissed off they made the Chinese version PlayStation console-exclusive. It's releasing on May 28th this year and I have nothing to say except call it a moronic decision. Watch them release it in the West skipping Switch as well.

They’ll put it on the cloud to make the most sense

 

[Aostia82]

Why being so critic: Switch obviously cant run a Switch game that easily!!!!

/s

 

[Vena]

It has been almost three years since the 35th anniversary livestream that announced the DQ III remake and DQ XII and we've heard nothing about the games since. Why did they even bother announcing them so early? Because it was a big anniversary?

Makes sense to announce for an event like that but then pure silence kind of makes it weird to fans looking in from that time. Kind of like the situation with Metroid Prime 4 but at least with that one Nintendo noted that the game was rebooted, and also meanwhile the fanbase got a stellar release in Dread.

 

[Adventureracing]

Makes sense to announce for an event like that but then pure silence kind of makes it weird to fans looking in from that time. Kind of like the situation with Metroid Prime 4 but at least with that one Nintendo noted that the game was rebooted, and also meanwhile the fanbase got a stellar release in Dread.

I think one slight difference is the importance of those franchises to the respective companies. Metroid is a minor franchise for Nintendo. DQ is a key franchise for SE and has the potential to be right up there with their best sellers. They’re also missing out on what was possibly the greatest opportunity the franchise has ever had to grow (the huge success of the switch in Japan).

Don’t get me wrong the radio silence on prime 4 isn’t ideal either but it’s nowhere near as bad.

 

[KtSlime]

While DQ is an important franchise for SE, it's not their passion, it's not even really theirs (they do not have unilateral control). Recently they have been focusing on Final Fantasy, they want that to succeed, and it'd just be that much harder trying to sell if people know the game they really want is coming soon. If people know that the main dish is coming soon they aren't going to fill up on the stale breadsticks after all.

 

[Mekanos]

This article/thread actually reminded me that a DQ III remake exists but we've not heard a word on it in some time.

I'm hoping they announce it soon so I can actually anticipate it instead of giving in and playing another version of DQ3, lol.

 

[StardustTraveler]

This isn't directly related to the topic at hand, but there's something I've been wondering about Dragon Quest. Why did Square Enix have Level 5 develop DQVIII and IX? It seems strange to hand off such an important franchise to a newly founded third party developer. Giving the previous two games to Heartbeat makes sense since the company's founder had been working on Dragon Quest since the first game and directed Dragon Quest V, but Level-5 didn't any experience with Dragon Quest before. I know Yuji Horii exercises a great deal of control over the franchise, so did he just hand the job to Akihiro Hino because he was impressed with Dark Cloud or something?

 

[ILikeFeet]

This isn't directly related to the topic at hand, but there's something I've been wondering about Dragon Quest. Why did Square Enix have Level 5 develop DQVIII and IX? It seems strange to hand off such an important franchise to a newly founded third party developer. Giving the previous two games to Heartbeat makes sense since the company's founder had been working on Dragon Quest since the first game and directed Dragon Quest V, but Level-5 didn't any experience with Dragon Quest before. I know Yuji Horii exercises a great deal of control over the franchise, so did he just hand the job to Akihiro Hino because he was impressed with Dark Cloud or something?

Probably a really good pitch and resume

 

[Alex4]

Remember when people claimed the Switch was going to get a port of the 3DS.

I had forgot about that lol.

 

[Kei_Kurono_1985]

HI THERE! A lot of time without a single comment form my part since forever, only lurking from time to time, LOL.

About the subject: Dragon Quest is a franchise with an special affinity with Nintendo, even when 2 of their main titles were relased during the heigh of Sony consoles popularity. But, Dragon Quest is not a franchise that is launched at the beginning of a console generation to promote console sales, the games were designed to take advantage of the highest player base available at a given timeframe. Except DQ V, no DQ has been released at the beginning of a console's commercial life (considering the Super Famicom was relased in November 1990 on Japan, while DQ V was relased in September 1992); even due to development issues (such as the cancellation of the DD N64 version of DQ VII and subsequent transfer of development to the original Play Station), these games have appeared at the end of the peak of popularity of the consoles where they have appeared: DQ VII for PS1 in August 2000 (after the Japanese launch of the PS2 and a very long development time of 4 years), DQ IX on DS in July 2009 (after 4 long years of development and a now forgotten controversy about being developed originally as an action j-RPG and not a classic turn-based j-RPG:

and DQ X for Wii in August 2012 (a long time after the Wii was considerated irrelevant in Japan).

Anoter issue is the main mechanics and combat. Dragon Quest did have some innovative combat options and is the j-RPG blueprint, and even it was the main inspiration behind the monster capture and battle system (DQ V), the main people behind Pokémon even adimeted they were heavy influenced by DQ V monster system and battles.
From that time to now, Dragon Quest is recognizable for its three main authors (Horii, Toriyama and Sugiyama), but also for being a franchise with a very conservative approach to gameplay, combat, exploration, plot, development and gameplay. The controversy over DQ IX as an action j-RPG was nothing compared to DQ X. Quite a few years ago on a blog that no longer exists, I read some opinions about DQ X and it turned out that the Japanese public wasn't excited about a numerical DQ that was an online game, no, they wanted a DQ X that was a long turn-based classic j-RPG adventure for Wii. It occurs to me that also the off-line DQ X is surely a way to "compensate" those DQ fans who didn't buy the original DQ X on-line for reasons of not being attracted to an on-line game.

Yu Miyake appears being involved with Dragon Quest since 1992 as a producer, but reading Mobygames, he was listed only as one of the many "Production Staff" in the DQ V. After that, he was involved in other games, some DQ spin-off and the remakes of older titles for the then contemporary consoles, until the 8th Chapter (Journey of the Cursed King) was relased in 2004 for the PS2. Well, the only controversy before DQ IX was the change from N64 to PS1 development and the very looong development time for the game (a matter of time, development size and console comercial opportunity). After Miyake started his tenue as one of the most powerfull executives and producer in the franchise, it's started more missteps: DQ IX originally developed as an action j-RPG and not as a classic turn-based combat j-RPG; DQ X as an MMO; DQ XI developed as a main game for the PS4 and the "made an emergency 3DS version to mittigate the lost sales for developing for PS4" whole fiasco, the announcement of a Swithc DQ XI version when it was only known by the codename "NX", making the first official game ever annunced for the console on July 2015. And we cannont forget the dimishing quality of the spin-offs, the whatever is happening with the DQ III 2D-HD remaster that was annunced on May 2021 and almost 3 years latter we didn't have ANY new information about it. And the persistent rumors about a potential DQ XII as a PS5 exclusive using an action j-RPG combat mode....

Final Fantasy is in a dire strait in Japan and in a so-so state in the West, but Dragon Quest is a franchise that was relevant and important in Japan and Japan is the only market that is interested in DQ as a franchise. Even with the massive popularity of Dragon Ball ouside Japan, DQ NEVER was relevant for the west, not even in France, Germany or Spain or with the spanish speaking latino population in the United States, México, or the North American kids that were exposed and were "converted" to DB Fans during late 90's and early 2000's. The West simple don't care about DQ, and it's not easy to change to a more "western taste", because it's not a spiritual George Romero's inspiration, nor a dinosaur hunt-based gameplay or even a semi-parodic and campy Yakuza/Triads action B-movie. Dragon Quest was pushed hard by Nintendo of America during the height of NES popularity and was a commercial dissaster. It was so big the failure of Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior), that NoA, before burrying the unsold games in a dessert, they actually gave it free for each new Nintendo Power suscription or renovation. Even more, Nintendo Power employees used a commemorative t-shirt "I Survived Dragon Warrior 1990" after the hard work was done:

Dragon Quest XI was actually the kind of game made "for big boy's consoles" (PS4) and the "emergency panic button 3DS version" was a desperate move after testing the waters: A DQ on a PS4 could be a commercial dissapointment, even a potential flop, and that was red line in Square Enix are not willing to cross. But after those 3 attemps of "changing the expected course", now there is this bizarre situation where various amounts of DQ spin-off are falling apart, the remake of one of the most beloved chapters in the series is a vaporware, and nobody is sure about what the developers want to bring to DQ XII; I could imagine someone in the Square-Enix board of directors demanded an explanations of what is happened with DQ, why isn't a new chapter relased, or at least, why there aren't remakes of the classic games re-relased or remaked. And they actually demanded the Yu Miyake's head in a silver plate after the most obvious missmanagment of the franchise.

Well, my two cents in this conversation.

 

[Kei_Kurono_1985]

This isn't directly related to the topic at hand, but there's something I've been wondering about Dragon Quest. Why did Square Enix have Level 5 develop DQVIII and IX? It seems strange to hand off such an important franchise to a newly founded third party developer. Giving the previous two games to Heartbeat makes sense since the company's founder had been working on Dragon Quest since the first game and directed Dragon Quest V, but Level-5 didn't any experience with Dragon Quest before. I know Yuji Horii exercises a great deal of control over the franchise, so did he just hand the job to Akihiro Hino because he was impressed with Dark Cloud or something?

That's and interesting question. I belive it was probably because the moderate sucess of Dark Cloud, because the previous work made by Hino (Doctor Hauzer and Overblood) aren't j-RPG's, they are Alone in the Dark clones.

 

[Ascheroth]

And they actually demanded the Yu Miyake's head in a silver plate after the most obvious missmanagment of the franchise.

The whole thing seems weird, because they didn't sack him, they sent him to head their mobile side. That part of the business is currently somewhat struggling as well, so you'd imagine they'd want someone good there to get things back on track. So it doesn't even feel like a demotion, it could even be seen more like a promotion.
Maybe they're hedging their bets because Dragon Quest Walk is their best performing mobile title and they are thinking mobile is a better fit for him then "HD games". I dunno.

 

[MechaJackie]

The whole thing seems weird, because they didn't sack him, they sent him to head their mobile side. That part of the business is currently somewhat struggling as well, so you'd imagine they'd want someone good there to get things back on track. So it doesn't even feel like a demotion, it could even be seen more like a promotion.
Maybe they're hedging their bets because Dragon Quest Walk is their best performing mobile title and they are thinking mobile is a better fit for him then "HD games". I dunno.

As far as I remember, Japanese companies don't fire people, not usually, they just shift them around to other unwanted positions until the person quits. Like putting them in charge of a already struggling section of the company.

 

[Lelouch0612]

As far as I remember, Japanese companies don't fire people, not usually, they just shift them around to other unwanted positions until the person quits. Like putting them in charge of a already struggling section of the company.

This.

 

[Luke88]

As far as I remember, Japanese companies don't fire people, not usually, they just shift them around to other unwanted positions until the person quits. Like putting them in charge of a already struggling section of the company.

Iirc the original Director of FFXIV is still working at Square and the producer allegedly only left for health reasons (although it might be a cover up for actually being sacked)

 

[MechaJackie]

Iirc the original Director of FFXIV is still working at Square and the producer allegedly only left for health reasons (although it might be a cover up for actually being sacked)

It is a quite common occurrence in JP companies, particularly for people that held higher level positions before. I bet if you were to dig around you would find a lot of cases like that, wonder if the original Devil May Cry 2 director is still at Capcom.

 

[Luke88]

It is a quite common occurrence in JP companies, particularly for people that held higher level positions before. I bet if you were to dig around you would find a lot of cases like that, wonder if the original Devil May Cry 2 director is still at Capcom.

Hard to tell, they erased their name from any archive to prevent them getting shamed for it.

 

[Straxet]

This isn't directly related to the topic at hand, but there's something I've been wondering about Dragon Quest. Why did Square Enix have Level 5 develop DQVIII and IX? It seems strange to hand off such an important franchise to a newly founded third party developer. Giving the previous two games to Heartbeat makes sense since the company's founder had been working on Dragon Quest since the first game and directed Dragon Quest V, but Level-5 didn't any experience with Dragon Quest before. I know Yuji Horii exercises a great deal of control over the franchise, so did he just hand the job to Akihiro Hino because he was impressed with Dark Cloud or something?

Hino has commented a few times about it. After the success of Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2, he was able to ramble off to a DQ producer, who was a fan of Hino's work, about his ideas for the future of Dragon Quest, especially in relation to his experiences with 7. The producer then suggested that he submit a prototype to the DQ team that incorporated his ideas. Hino took up the challenge and built one that impressed Horii, leading Level-5 to become the developer for DQ8. I believe he was also the one to suggest the DS as the platform for DQ9 as well.

 

[Kei_Kurono_1985]

The whole thing seems weird, because they didn't sack him, they sent him to head their mobile side. That part of the business is currently somewhat struggling as well, so you'd imagine they'd want someone good there to get things back on track. So it doesn't even feel like a demotion, it could even be seen more like a promotion.
Maybe they're hedging their bets because Dragon Quest Walk is their best performing mobile title and they are thinking mobile is a better fit for him then "HD games". I dunno.

In Japan there are actually some takes in the "don't fire people" official politic:

1) Move upwards. This is with some person that actually was a consistent good employee that make some BIG mistakes and/or recently have had a very bad record. Because his or her initial aportation to the company, or a big chunk of the work that one person is actually brillant; or even in some cases, the upper heads of the board of directors/CEO didn't want to sack him/her due to an actual simpathy or pitty. Due to the recognition for the previous career (or other factors), the CEO or board of directors decide to offer him/her a promotion to a better position within the company; however, it is a very poisoned gift, because they will take the person to the limbo of the administrative vice presidencies, where they have a theoretically high rank, but where their decisions have little or no effect on the production line.
2) Move sideways. Transfer the person to another division, could be a very hard competition place within the company, or a place when they only were called to work in some project here and there, but they will never used as a "main force". Techinically speaking, they didn't touch the salary, bonus and even place of work, but the functions within the new division probably could be not the best place for the person skills.
3) The indirect dismissal. The worst of the bunch. The CEO and/or board of directors decide to demote the person for his/her actual position to a worse position within the company. And probabbly And in addition to this, a worse salary is coming, worse working conditions, little to no bonus, no recognition....

Miyake could be actually indirect dismissed, because he was from the top of Square Enix divisions (The Dragon Quet one) to a mobile division that was struggling recently.

 

[Koni]

About the subject: Dragon Quest is a franchise with an special affinity with Nintendo, even when 2 of their main titles were relased during the heigh of Sony consoles popularity. But, Dragon Quest is not a franchise that is launched at the beginning of a console generation to promote console sales, the games were designed to take advantage of the highest player base available at a given timeframe.

When you look at it from that perspective, largely missing the Switch boat is possibly the franchise's greatest failure, bar none. Nintendo's best selling platform in Japan ever and all the series could muster up was a port, some spinoffs of varying quality, and maybe a remake if the're lucky. It's one thing for mainline Final Fantasy to skip Switch, but it's a whole nother thing for mainline Dragon Quest to do it.

After Miyake started his tenue as one of the most powerfull executives and producer in the franchise, it's started more missteps: DQ IX originally developed as an action j-RPG and not as a classic turn-based combat j-RPG; DQ X as an MMO; DQ XI developed as a main game for the PS4 and the "made an emergency 3DS version to mittigate the lost sales for developing for PS4" whole fiasco, the announcement of a Swithc DQ XI version when it was only known by the codename "NX", making the first official game ever annunced for the console on July 2015. And we cannont forget the dimishing quality of the spin-offs, the whatever is happening with the DQ III 2D-HD remaster that was annunced on May 2021 and almost 3 years latter we didn't have ANY new information about it. And the persistent rumors about a potential DQ XII as a PS5 exclusive using an action j-RPG combat mode....

There's also the fact that Dragon Quest XII would feature "dark, mature content, and force players to make various decisions to determine their way of life" according to Horii, with former CEO Matsuda adding that “Dragon Quest XII is being developed taking into account the next 10 to 20 years of the Dragon Quest series”. Almost as if it was trying to change to appeal to more hardcore audences? Or it being a more attempt at chasing the West due to XI S not quite being what they wanted? It sounds paranoid, but it's hard not to read it that way.

But after those 3 attemps of "changing the expected course", now there is this bizarre situation where various amounts of DQ spin-off are falling apart, the remake of one of the most beloved chapters in the series is a vaporware, and nobody is sure about what the developers want to bring to DQ XII; I could imagine someone in the Square-Enix board of directors demanded an explanations of what is happened with DQ, why isn't a new chapter relased, or at least, why there aren't remakes of the classic games re-relased or remaked. And they actually demanded the Yu Miyake's head in a silver plate after the most obvious missmanagment of the franchise.

I think that's the thing that really gets me about all of this. After this year, the gap between the Definitive Edition of DQXI and DQXII will be longer than the ones between any other mainline DQ and the next. I get that game development has been taking longer in general, but part of me can't help but feel as if the devs fucked around... and now two of the original three are quite literally dead. It really makes you wonder what's going on.

Interesting read, by the way!

 

[StardustTraveler]

Hino has commented a few times about it. After the success of Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2, he was able to ramble off to a DQ producer, who was a fan of Hino's work, about his ideas for the future of Dragon Quest, especially in relation to his experiences with 7. The producer then suggested that he submit a prototype to the DQ team that incorporated his ideas. Hino took up the challenge and built one that impressed Horii, leading Level-5 to become the developer for DQ8. I believe he was also the one to suggest the DS as the platform for DQ9 as well.

Thank you for explaining. Hino was wise to put DQIX on DS, considering it turned out to be a mega-hit. Do you know where I can read his comments on how he came to be a Dragon Quest developer?

 

[Djehuty]

I do think this company will be around independently after 20 years.

the new ceo has to work a miracle to pull squeenix out of the gutter.

no matter what they make it wont sell.

their last big success was 8 years ago with nier auomata, and the remake fell off hard.

dq11 was a giant mess that eventually sold as well as it did after 3 versions

final fantasy is declining faster than ever

all their aa flops (neo twewy, treasures, harvestella) except asano and even that only can hit 1mil now

forspoken flops

mobile is declining
mmo is declining

DQ12
DQR3
and KH4 are all mia

Foamstars??????????????????

yeah some of their games still make money but their profitability would be dubious without sony potentially paying for some of the budget.

their back catalogue is carrying them

this company has been a disaster

 

[Damage2]

I do think this company will be around independently after 20 years.

the new ceo has to work a miracle to pull squeenix out of the gutter.

no matter what they make it wont sell.

their last big success was 8 years ago with nier auomata, and the remake fell off hard.

dq11 was a giant mess that eventually sold as well as it did after 3 versions

final fantasy is declining faster than ever

all their aa flops (neo twewy, treasures, harvestella) except asano and even that only can hit 1mil now

forspoken flops

mobile is declining
mmo is declining

DQ12
DQR3
and KH4 are all mia

Foamstars??????????????????

yeah some of their games still make money but their profitability would be dubious without sony potentially paying for some of the budget.

their back catalogue is carrying them

this company has been a disaster

KH3 shipped 5 million day 1, FFVII Remake did great, FFXIV its not declining, maybe Dawntrail it wont reach Endwalker peak but it will still make a lot lot of money and FFXIV for itself its still makin a lot of money

Nier Replicant 1.22 didnt fell hard, it was a smaller project that still sold 1.5M in a year.

 

[Djehuty]

KH3 shipped 5 million day 1, FFVII Remake did great, FFXIV its not declining, maybe Dawntrail it wont reach Endwalker peak but it will still make a lot lot of money and FFXIV for itself its still makin a lot of money

Nier Replicant 1.22 didnt fell hard, it was a smaller project that still sold 1.5M in a year.

FFVII was 4 years ago.

KH3 was 5 years ago

FFXIV is declining, objectively it is making less money than it used to, that is decline.

NieR automata came out 7 years ago and there has been nothing since other than replicant.

DQ has been radio silent for 8 years relying on ports


that's really bad, that's all awful, your first good thing to say is half a decade ago two of their games did great.

what were thier succes this year and last year?
tell me what succeeded with no caveats

as a gaming company you cant go years in between big hits
obviously they are in no danger now still thanks to mobile and 14 but if both of those collapses they are in a tough position.

they made one of the best FF game's in recent memory decked out with all bells and whistle's that is likely going to be outsold by pikmin 4 and mario rpg worldwide, thats not good.
this company is broken to the core and needs new management in advertising budgeting, decision making, and game directing.
.
im not gonna lower my expectations becuase they are square enix, bakners arent going to treat quare any better for being incompetant, thier budgets wont magically decrease by being incompent, the new ceo has the right idea, SE was a sinking ship headed for disaster.

every bad decison they could make they made. being carried by miracle releases like a realm reborn and nier auomata

 

[Straxet]

Thank you for explaining. Hino was wise to put DQIX on DS, considering it turned out to be a mega-hit. Do you know where I can read his comments on how he came to be a Dragon Quest developer?

He doesn't ever really go into detail very much past what I have said really. His interviews also don't seem to get complete translations from the looks of it. Here is a link to a somewhat recent interview in Japanese about his career if that is something that interests you.

 

[StardustTraveler]

He doesn't ever really go into detail very much past what I have said really. His interviews also don't seem to get complete translations from the looks of it. Here is a link to a somewhat recent interview in Japanese about his career if that is something that interests you.

That is a shame, but thank you for the information.