I've wanted to play the Japan-exclusive MMO Dragon Quest 10 for a very long time, so much so that I knowingly bought a region-locked copy in Japan in the unlikely event I'd one day scrounge up the money for an imported Wii U despite not being able to read Japanese (I still haven't). More recently, I resorted to a fan translation project which, while serviceable, isn't the ideal way to play the acclaimed MMO, which got an offline version (still exclusive to Japan) in 2022.
Call it hopium, but the optimist in me still has faith that Dragon Quest 10 could be in line for a global release, and I'm desperately hanging on to recent comments from Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu for validation.
"As with Final Fantasy 14, we are readying a variety of initiatives for Dragon Quest 10 Online that we look forward to announcing," Kiryu said during a recently published Q&A page from a November 2023 investor briefing.
It's not much, but recent rumors speculating about a potential global release add some additional heft to his words. Recently, Square Enix Asia uploaded trailers for the Dragon Quest 10 Offline's release in China and Korea, potentially suggesting an imminent announcement for a Western localized version. Moreover, the trailers only listed PlayStation and PC as platforms, conspicuously leaving out Nintendo Switch, a platform supported by both the offline and online versions of Dragon Quest 10. This led to speculation that Nintendo has taken over publishing duties for the global release on Switch.
Of course, this is all pure, unfettered speculation. A broader Asian release doesn't necessitate a global launch, and it's anyone's guess why it wouldn't include Nintendo Switch as a platform. As for Kiryu promising several Dragon Quest 10 announcements, again, expansions, events, new cosmetics; it could be anything. But one of the things could also be a localized version of the game! It's a possibility, is what I'm saying.
