Dragon Quest is a remarkable series in that it has already been incredible influential within its genre, but it's still growing. Many past Dragon Quest games have set standards for and introduced hallmark mechanics to the RPG genre, from changing character classes to setting commands for AI party members to training monsters. Dragon Quest has earned its place as a pillar of RPGs, and the latest entry in the series saw record sales in North America during its opening month, indicating a rising international interest. That means developer Square Enix needs to bring the upcoming offline version of Dragon Quest 10 to Western audiences.
Dragon Quest 10 is an MMORPG, rather than a single-player RPG like most Dragon Quest games. It's found success in Japan since releasing in 2012, and it's still available to this day, but Square Enix never opened it to Western audiences. The offline version of Dragon Quest 10 seems like it could be a valuable compromise on opening Western servers for the game. Dragon Quest has a burgeoning audience in the West, and those fans deserve to try Dragon Quest 10 too.
Dragon Quest 10's Potential
It's not surprising that Dragon Quest 10 never got an international release. The MMORPG genre is famously difficult to break into, since it's usually dominated by a handful of games that attract the same general subset of players. Longtime MMO bastions like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy 14 maintain a monopoly, meaning it's difficult for Square Enix to persuade MMO lovers to take time away in order to try Dragon Quest 10.
That's why Dragon Quest 10 Offline seems like a brilliant product to release in the West. While an MMORPG is hard to sustain, there's always people interested in traditional JRPGs. Slimming Dragon Quest 10 into a single-player game gives it significantly broader appeal that could carry it to success. To date, Dragon Quest 10 is one of the few mainline Dragon Quest games with no Western release, meaning Square Enix is missing out on an important market. Between that untapped potential and the ease of marketing a single-player RPG over an MMORPG, Dragon Quest 10 Offline is poised to potentially succeed.
Dragon Quest's Continuing Success
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Looking at the franchise more broadly indicates the value of a Western release. The latest entry, Dragon Quest 11, was a major success outside of Japan. Even if Dragon Quest already had Western fans, the sales numbers for Dragon Quest 11 suggest the franchise is drawing in a lot of new players right now. Square Enix also has Dragon Quest 12 to consider. The seemingly darker, more mature Dragon Quest 12 could succeed in the West, but since it's likely far from release, a Dragon Quest 10 Offline port would help tide fans over.
It's worth noting that Square Enix wants Dragon Quest 12 to have a simultaneous international release, rather than releasing regionally like previous games have. That suggests Square Enix sees the value in catering to the entire Dragon Quest audience, rather than prioritizing the franchise's strong support in Japan. If Square Enix wants to take a more international approach to Dragon Quest moving forward, an international release of Dragon Quest 10 would be the perfect way to begin setting that standard.
Dragon Quest 10: Awakening of the Five Tribes is available now in Japan for PC, PS4, Switch, and Wii U.