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‘Dragon Quest X’ sales below expectations

By on February 10, 2013
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Dragon Quest X, an expensive online RPG with Square Enix at the helm, has not met the company’s expectations, and is a big reason for the studio’s recent financial issues.

MSN Japan has reported that this major publisher/developer is in the red for the first time since the merger of Square and Enix, falling well below expectations for the period of April to December 2012. Certain segments, like mobile games, are finding a moderate degree of success, but the significant investment that is Dragon Quest X has yet to attract a true following.

“The slump is reportedly down to the company’s new online RPG venture, Dragon Quest X,” MSN states. “While the disappointing financial turn for the company can be partially attributed to the burden of running the new online service, it is also down to game sales not meeting expectations. The Wii (and soon to be Wii U) game is however, making ‘steady progress’ according to Square Enix.”

Some MMOs are a bit of a slow burn, so there’s still time for Square to grow the game into something worth bragging about. However, only so much money can be sunk into Dragon Quest X before it’s labeled a failure.

Square isn’t what it once was, but do you still think it can produce profitable, memorable experiences? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below!

When not writing about all the latest and greatest happenings in the video game industry, you can find Josiah on PSN, XBLA or Steam (Lionheart377). He has a soft spot for classic, turn-based RPGs, but also spends a great deal of time jumping from platform to platform and shooting dudes in the head.
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  • Shanji

    Maybe you should release this on PC,PS3,PS Vita and maybe PS4. I’d also like Dragon Quest 8 updated for Vita please.

    • Nicholas Gatewood

      Heck yeah, some Dragon Quest love(especially 8) on the Vita would be glorious. Plus, I just don’t see how they expected Dragon Quest X to do well on the Wii and Wii U- the Wii U’s install base is tiny and the Wii died off in mid-2010(in regards to public mindshare, anyways). I get that Nintendo is likely paying them off for exclusivity, but it’s suicidal to invest so heavily into such mediocre(and unpopular/dead) platforms exclusively. Dragon Quest X on Playstation systems would certainly fare way better, since they aren’t dead to Japanese gamers(like the Xbox brand) and they generally see much, much better third-party sales than Nintendo’s systems. It just stuns me that they’re sticking with Nintendo through all this, same with Crapcom.

      • Charles Crowe

        DQ has better sales on Nintendo platforms. I am not sure where you get your info from other than thin air but PS is not the best place for most games. MH3 was the best selling console version of MH to date and PS2 had a much bigger install base.
        Please actually look into things instead of just making them up as you go in order to justify your hate for a company you obviously know little to nothing about.

        • Nicholas Gatewood

          I know way more about Nintendo than you, I bet. I stuck with them from the SNES days to the mediocre 3DS’ launch, with that awful system I’d had enough. The Nintendo I grew up with is dead, replaced by some bastardization who puts profit margins over the end-user experience.

          Monster Hunter wasn’t a hit series on the PS2, you could say the same thing of Call of Duty selling better on the 360 than the PS2. It’s nonsense either way you put it. Dragon Quest only seems to have better sales on Nintendo platforms because Square Enix has been neglecting the Dragon Quest series on PlayStation for the past decade or so, outside of DQ8… which was marketed poorly because Square Enix didn’t put much trust in it worldwide. I guarantee if they’d stuck with PlayStation, they’d see more success.

    • William Cole

      I really don’t see Dragon Quest going back on Playstation. I know it’d be nice but I don’t see this happening. Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, I think, are on their way out. We need new JRPGS to grace the scene.

  • http://www.facebook.com/steve.dimmick Steve Dimmick

    Maybe they will release DQX in the USA and get a bump in sales? It would be awesome to see this game and it could represent the future of gaming when combined with the interactive controllers that the Wii and Wii U are famous for – like the Wii Fit Board.

    A true MMORPG experience where you actually have to get off your backside and move to play the game would be like no other ;)

  • William Cole

    If Square Enix doesn’t turn around they’re toast. They haven’t made a new stellar Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest since X, and VIII respectively. They even jacked up Lufia. How do you mess up so many popular JPRG series? Well, at least Pokemon is still going strong.

    • Nicholas Gatewood

      Pokemon hasn’t seen any real innovation, like, ever. It’s not going strong, except in sales. Nintendo’s milking all their main franchises dry, it’s painful to see considering I was a Nintendo gamer from the SNES until the dreadful 3DS launched.

      • William Cole

        Pokemon hasn’t changed because it tries to gain new players the same way all pokemon gamers were enticed. They could change the formula but then it would probably suck. X and Y will be great games and the 3DS has great games. What’s dreadful is the Vita. Not one system seller. 3DS has Sm3d land, MK7, Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing, Dragon Quest, and now a new pokemon. Plus sales are all that matter to Pokemon. They’ve kept their fanbase for quite some time and I don’t see the franchise dying anytime soon. Nintendo doesn’t seem to be milking their main franchises because they always seem to impress me.

        • Nicholas Gatewood

          Ha, no, total opposite. The 3DS is a slap to the face to all of Nintendo’s fans and the gaming world at large, and the Vita, the only good modern handheld gaming system, has a much better library than the laughable, mediocre joke called the 3DS. Gravity Rush is a thing, you know, in fact there are dozens more great Vita games than I have time for. Those 3DS games you listed are a total joke, outside of Fire Emblem.

          Sales are all that matter to Pokemon? Yeah, right, because quality and innovation mean nothing. This is why Nintendo sucks ass these days, because their complacent fanbase doesn’t ask more of them.

          • William Cole

            This is why Nintendo is more popular than your comment, because you have no reasoning. Sales don’t lie. Vita sucks right now. They only hold about 12% of the handheld gaming market while 3DS is 88%. When it comes down to it Nintendo just has better games. Mario Kart and Pokemon are jokes? What rock have you been living under. Nobody even cares about this Gravity Rush that you rant on about. I haven’t even bothered to puchase a PSVITA because the games are complete garbage and have no substance. Nintendo is where they are for a reason.
            If gamefreak wanted to change pokemon they would have the money and power, that you and I don’t have, to change the game. Innovation is for series that need it to stay fresh. Pokemon is generational. People want to catch Pokemon, train them, battle with friends, and be the master. Sorry I can’t shoot up the world all the time, shessh. And if Nintendo sucked ass then you’d notice their billions of dollars crushing the Playstation lineup. Get a life dude. Stop all the hatin’.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bob-Obb/100001994017630 Bob Obb

    I hope Square goes bankrupt, I really do. This is not the same company that brought my so many amazing experiences as a kid. They’ve found a way to ruin every series I once loved.

  • Charles Crowe

    What is funny to me is that FF14 bombed hard on PS3 and PC. Yet people act like making an MMO for PS3 would have made all the difference here. Truth is DQ might be big there but MMOs are not. Also asking for a Vita version is funny as hell considering its selling worse than the Wii U in every area and PS fanboys are often calling Wii U a dead console. If Wii U is dead Vita should be burried by now. If they bring it to the US I will buy it on Wii U for sure and I assume many other people would do the same, especially in Japan.

    • V. A. Darkerson

      What is funny is it never even made it to PS3, so it couldnt have bombed at all on PS3.

  • Brittany Rodiger

    I really think That Dragon Quest should get more popular in the music as will Koichi Sugiyama needs some love for the U.S including all over the world this really ticks me off if Square enix is gonna act Like Jerks then I Don’t care we just want Dragon Quest to become more popular in the U.S Moore then Final Fantasy or Little Nobuo Uematsu