Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams

Main series games
Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams
Developer(s)	Square Enix; Orca; HexaDrive
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Designer(s)	Yuji Horii
Artist(s)	Akira Toriyama
Composer(s)	Kōichi Sugiyama
Series	Dragon Quest
Platform(s)	PC; TBA
Release date(s)	TBA
Genre(s)	Role-playing

Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams (ドラゴンクエストXII　夢の彼方へ, Doragon Kuesuto Toerubu Yume no Kanata e^?) is the twelfth main Dragon Quest series game. It is planned to have a simultaneous worldwide release, though no specific release date or platforms have been given.

Premise[edit | edit source]

The story follows a young hero who is beset by strange visions in their sleep.

Development[edit | edit source]

Dragon Quest XII was announced on May 27, 2021 with the full title Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate (ドラゴンクエストXII 選ばれし運命の炎, Doragon Kuesuto Toerubu Erabareshi Unmei no Honoo^?). Yuji Horii stated XII would be "darker" and adult-themed, with a greater focus on decision-making and a revamped combat system. In September 2021, an exploit in NVIDIA's GeForce Now service revealed a PC release to be in development. In 2021, job listings pertaining to the game were posted on the websites of co-developers Orca and HexaDrive, confirming that the game would be developed on Unreal Engine 5^[1]^[2]. The Flames of Fate's logo was updated in 2023^[3]^[4]; afterwards, no further updates on the game were given and no gameplay footage was ever shown.

On the 2026 Dragon Quest Day (May 27, 2026), Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams was publicly revealed in the "Update from the Dragon Quest Team" livestream. According to producer Yosuke Saito, development on The Flames of Fate hit several difficulties since 2021, including a reshuffle of the staff; however, these difficulties allowed Saito and Horii to revise the game's concept anew and restart the production process, with the new logo and subtitle reflecting this change in direction. Horii commented on the new concept: "What lies beyond dreams? Surely not a world of darkness, but a bright and exciting future."

Dragon Quest XII will be the final mainline entry to involve the franchise's music composer Kōichi Sugiyama and character/monster designer Akira Toriyama, who passed away in September 30th, 2021 and March 1st, 2024 respectively.