Dragon Quest XI Delayed on Switch Due to Outdated Unreal Engine 4 - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 07 April 2018 / 3,146 Views
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age producer Hokuto Okamoto revealed some details on the Nintendo Switch version of the game in an interview with GameSpot at PAX East 2018.
"It's true that the Nintendo Switch version is under development at this moment in time," said Okamoto.
"Specifically with regards to the development, this game was developed on the Unreal Engine, but the version for Unreal Engine needs to be updated, I suppose, in order to support Switch. In that sense, the development is still expected to take a very long time. It's still a long ways out."
"Of course, we did consider releasing PS4 and a Switch version around the same time if that was even a possibility, but right now the outlook for the Switch version is still unclear at this moment in time," he added. "The Japan team, they wanted to release Dragon Quest a XI and bring it overseas as soon as possible for our fans overseas, which is why they proceeded with the PS4 [and] Steam version[s] this time."
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of Elusive Age will launch for the PlayStation 4 and Windows PC on September 4 in North America and Europe.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Even with sales out the roof the Switch still manages to get late ports.
I play it on PlayStation 4 of course. With Ni No Kuni 2 and Kingdom Hearts 3 the best JRPG this year.
Should have held off tbh, it's gonna get ran over by Spiderman on PS4. Steam isn't a great place for these games, it's a sea of crap that often overrides the good, especially for a niche game like this in the west. Its best bet was to come to Switch.
Then it's about the chain of supply then. Putting PC last, like MS has done for oevr a decade, did not work out so well for itself as a company that has a PC base. They left it to rot and are only now coming back to it due to how X1 is performing sales wise. Only now it's not working out for them because Steam actually gave the time of day a decade ago.
Point is, if you're going to give the time of day far later to PC than anyone else, you have yourself to blame if the sales are low.
The fact it's coming to Switch and PC is a good thing, because it means more sales.
lol, I didn't say it was a bad thing that it's coming to Switch and PC, I'm just saying if Square Enix wanted to appeal to the west, especially around September 4th...a few days from Spiderman, they should have had a Switch version on deck. I understand that they couldn't due to UE4 issues, but still. I say this mainly because PS4 has a slew of JRPGs already, the audience has tons of games, new and old to choose from. While Switch owners really only have Xenoblade 2. IT's an easier sell on the Switch. Having it on PC is no harm no foul, but when using that as the entry point into the west is kind of misguided. I hope I'm wrong though. I hope steam users take a liking to DQXI, but that more than likely won't be the case.
We'll see why, soon enough. Been following DQ for some time now, the time of release just isn't optimal. Unless there's a huge marketing push from Square Enix, which they don't push DQ like they should, it's gonna tank besides Spiderman. There is such thing as releasing something tactfully and Square hasn't mastered that with the DQ series sadly.
The thing is that they just aren't willing to put out for Switch asap. That's their call and it's not like DQ is not going to sell on Switch and PC. It'll sell on both.
It feels odd how we're using Spiderman, an exclusive to one system, while DQ isn't going to be an exclusive. I mean, if we're going to use Spiderman, then what about other systems whenever one system has an exclusive due out in the coming months?.
I'm giving reasons that highlight the issues both on PC and PS4. In my experience with the series, it's more often than not that if DQ comes to any platform first, and another second, the second one won't sell nearly as well. Dragon Quest X for example, released first on Wii, sold about 1M units. It moves to PS4 and Wii U and doesn't do a shadow of those numbers. The bulk of those who played it on Wii, aren't going to double dip, and the Switch version theoretically suffers. Square then says, well it didn't sell on X platform, they must not want it, and the cycle continues.
I know it's Square's call, again I'm not telling Square to do anything. Never said that. I'm personally getting it on Steam myself, but like I said, I hope I'm wrong, but historically this hasn't been the best way to release specifically DQ titles in the past.
Even if they sold it at the same time, it would still suffer. If we're placing a large emphasis on time then any other system can also suffer a similar fate.
"Square then says, well it didn't sell on X platform, they must not want it, and the cycle continues." This happens with all sorts of systems over the years, PC included.
We can look at DQ like we can look at MH. Look at how MHW exploded, and that game isn't even on Switch and not even on PC yet.
As for Spiderman, it's exclusive to one system only, so it will only be anticipated by those who own a PS4. Those like me who don't own a PS4 and aren't interested, are going to go off and support something else. When Planet Coaster came out on PC and it was a hit, others who weren't invested in PC or the game itself were highly likely to have gone off supporting other games on their systems, rather than going out of their way to build/buy a rig to play Planet Coaster.
Splatoon 2 and Mario, as well as Zelda were big hits, but since I didn't own a Switch at the time, I instead focused on buying other games on my system of choice. I effectively ignored those titles for a whole year (before I bought a Switch and Zelda).
