Square’s Considering Taking Dragon Quest X Outside Of Japan, But…

There’s a catch. There’s always a catch. Now that the online role-playing game Dragon Quest X — first released for Wii and Wii U — is getting a PC release in Japan, Famitsu asked producers Yosuke Saito and Yu Miyake if they plan to bring the game overseas. Their answer: sure, they’re considering it… but it could be a different game than the Dragon Quest X that Japanese gamers have been playing for a year now.

Here’s the full transcript, translated by Kotaku‘s Toshi Nakamura:

Famitsu: In terms of the PC version, are you looking at [releasing] overseas?

Miyake: Of course we are. However, with the overseas market, in regards to a “Dragon Quest-ish” management, standards and methods of play vary from country to country, so I don’t think we’ll be able to use the single game worldwide method like with Final Fantasy XI.

Saitou: This is just my take on it, but it appears that different countries play games at different speeds, and the community management is also diverse. It’s more than just if players would be able to enjoy universal seasonal events, so I believe we should manage countries and areas separately. That’s why I think we should have separate servers for each country.

What does all that mean, exactly? Could Square be considering some alternative subscription method for a worldwide release of Dragon Quest X? Maybe free-to-play? Some sort of single-player mode? Who knows.

Some fans have been worried that the tenth Dragon Quest would never actually make it to North America or Europe for a number of reasons: MMORPGs are expensive to maintain; Dragon Quest has never been as explosively popular in the West as it is in Japan; and the Wii is no longer relevant while the Wii U is struggling.

A few weeks ago, after news that Dragon Quest X would get a PC release too, I reached out to Square Enix for comment and a rep said: “Regarding the recent announcement we have no current plans to introduce the title in Western markets.”