Yuji Horii: Silent on Details, Hard at Work on Dragon Quest 12

Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate is still in development, according to series creator Yuji Horii. Despite long periods of silence and recent industry changes, Horii has confirmed that the game has not been canceled.

Dragon Quest 12 was officially announced during the franchise’s 35th-anniversary event in 2021. It marked the first mainline entry since Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age, which launched back in 2017. Since its reveal, however, updates have been sparse. The most recent public comment from Horii prior to now was in February, when he stated that the Square Enix development team was “working hard” and that new information would be shared gradually.

In a recent interview with Gamereactor, Horii reiterated his commitment to the project, saying, “Yes, indeed, I can’t say anything, I apologize. I am making it, putting lots of work into it… I can only say that the next work will be great too, [I’m] working really hard. Please look forward to it is the only thing I can say.”

While this doesn’t offer much in the way of concrete details, it does provide some reassurance to fans who had grown concerned about the game’s status. The lack of updates, combined with recent restructuring at Square Enix, had led to speculation that the project might have been shelved.

All that has been officially revealed of Dragon Quest 12 so far is its logo, released in 2021.

In other related news, Horii reflected in May 2024 on the passing of two major figures in the series’ history: character designer Akira Toriyama and composer Koichi Sugiyama. Around the same time, Yu Miyake, the game’s lead producer, stepped down from his role to focus on Square Enix’s mobile game division.

Despite the delays and transitions, Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate remains on the horizon, with fans eagerly awaiting further details.