Gaming publication Dual Shockers recently had the opportunity to talk to Dragon Quest XI producer, Hokuto Okamoto. A number of interesting things were revealed in the interview but the thing that Nintendo Switch owners will want to know is why the game has been significantly delayed for the platform. Here’s Mr. Okamoto’s response.
J: Square made a statement to the press recently mentioning that the development of the Switch version will take a long time. Could you give us any info about the stage of development the Switch version is in, and possibly quantify this “long time” a bit more precisely?
HO: Unfortunately we can’t quantify the time frame yet based on the current situation, but we can let you know what we’re currently doing. To give you some background, when we were initially developing XI we did have the Switch version in our outlook for the platforms we wanted to release the game on. That being said, at that moment in time the SDK (Software Development Kit) for the Nintendo Switch wasn’t ready, which means we couldn’t start working on the port of game.
Now that the SDK is ready and the engine supports it we were able to startworking to support that platform for the game. That being said, the version of Unreal Engine 4 that supports the Switch is actually a version that’s higher than what Dragon Quest XI was built on, so that means we need to upgrade the engine and that comes with a slew of issues.
Right now we’re in the midst of resolving all those issues. Of course, we did consider bringing the Switch version out at the same time at the same time as the PS4 and PC versions but that meant since we don’t have a precise outlook on the development timerframe, we still believe it’s going to be a long way out.
We wanted our consumers on the PS4 and PC to experience the game overseas as soon as possible, which is why we’re leading with the release of these platforms version in September.
Translation: Sony paid us to delay it.
Nah… I think they are telling the truth this time.
If Sony paid at all, I don’t think the game would have made it to the Switch…. Like Monster Hunter World.
MHW is not coming to the Switch, but another MH game, aka MH5 could come to it.
All I know is that the Switch version of DQXI better look mighty fine if they are willing to put 1 year plus on the development of the game.
Monster Hunter World is on Xbox One too.
People need to stop saying this. It’s foolhardy. The hard truth is simply that the big games coming out right now were not developed with the Switch in mind because the Switch wasn’t even a thing when their development started. There is no “Sony Paid them off”.
That’s unfortunately how a lot of people like to think these days. It’s easier to accuse a developer of being greedy, lazy, ignorant or generally evil than to accept that game development is complex and takes time. A year or so ago, I worked on the remaster of a game, and due to an oversight in the code, the game ran rather badly on most PCs with AMD GPUs, but it didn’t happen on our development machines because they were just strong enough to run the game at 60 FPS, anyways (despite mostly having AMD GPUs), so the problem snuck itself into the first version of the remaster released on Steam (it was fixed via a patch soon after). So how do you think players reacted to this? Why, of course, they accused us of having a secret deal with NVIDIA to intentionally hamper the performance on PCs with AMD GPUs, because clearly that’s the only plausible explanation. Way too unbelievable for a game developer to simply make a mistake leading to a bug.
I think Square Enix should have held off on announcing the game for switch. They simply spoke too soon here and now they’re eating their foot as they hit snags in the development for what is essentially the very first announced Switch game.
What are you talking about? DQ 11 was announced for the NX almost a year before Nintendo came out and announced the Switch. Square had PLENTY of time to get the game running.
Second, if I was going to bet anything I think it’s a combination of two things.
First being, I think Square had no confidence in the Switch when it was announced and decided to go all steam ahead on the PS4 version but once those Switch sales started coming in Square then realized Nintendo had another hit on their hands. Now Square is scrambling to make excuses and trying to move production along a lot faster.
Second, I do believe a deal was cut with Sony on DQ 11 solely because the lack of a 3DS version. Sony knows without a doubt the 3DS version would of out sold the PS4 version. If you need evidence of this just look at the sales comparison in Japan alone.
I imagine the deal was Sony would pay for a big marketing push come Augest and most likely paid for the porting fees if Square squashed the localization of the western DQ 11 3DS version.
Except in the west, the PS4 has a vastly larger install base than the 3DS, handheld gaming isn’t nearly as popular in the west as in Japan, and the 3DS is clearly in it’s twilight years.
It’s quite simple, Square Enix officially stated the game would be on Switch, before they even started development for it. When they finally did, they ran into roadblocks, which is causing the delay.
The delay is sprung by them alone, Sony has nothing to do with it. So, why should the game have to wait another year in localization just so a switch port can be released with it. That makes no business sense, and as a Dragon Quest fan, that would only make me resent the switch version.
I’m sick of hearing Nintendrones say “Sony paid them” every single time a new game doesn’t come to Switch. That’s not how game development works, you can’t just automatically have a working game for a weaker console. Games take a lot of time to develop, and even more time to port. Be happy the Switch is getting Dragon Quest 11 at all and get over yourselves.
@Nintendo Messiah: I don’t think Sony would care about publishing/supporting a Dragon Quest release in the west, because over here, Dragon Quest is basically a niche series. It’s not like DQXI is going to sell multiple millions over here, unlike in Japan. Sony wouldn’t gain much from supporting the title.
That was true for Zelda too, more than one year ago… meh.
“at the same time at the same time” Lol XD
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Sony can’t just pay Square Enix to delay the Switch release or to not have the 3DS version localized. There are laws in place to combat anti-competitive practices and Sony would be putting themselves up for a lawsuit if this was the case. The only thing Sony could lawfully do to get dibs on a third-party game is actually put their own money into publishing/developing or sign a deal for a timed exclusive
This is just a case of Nintendo fans trying to find reasons for a situation with no facts or evidence just because it’s inconvenient for them.
Good thing people at my uni are working on making a translation patch for the 3ds version, i can reveal the prologue is in english and a bit after the actual adventure starts but after that it’s japanese, the menu remains english as well as the attacks but there’s lots of texts to localize. I can’t give to much away in details but once we knew there wasn’t going to be a localized version on the 3ds my friends got to work.
“Sony paid them to delay this!” “Sony paid them not to bring this!” These are excuses we’ll be seeing a lot from the toxic Nintendo fans angry their Switch isn’t get this or having to wait to get that. Apparently these people think paying for timed exclusivity is evil incarnate, so if Sony & Microsoft are paying for timed exclusives, they are most definitely guilty of illegally trying to undermine the competition by paying to not have this or that come to other systems. So by their thinking, I guess Nintendo is guilty of this since they paid for exclusive rights to Bayonetta 2 and made sure that franchise never hits a PlayStation or XBox again by paying for Bayonetta 3. See how ridiculous that claim is!? Just as ridiculous as the Sony claims with no facts & only RUMORS (like Sony paid Capcom to not port MHW to Switch) to back it up. Oh and timed exclusivity is not proof & is just grasping at straws if you think it is proof.
As another pointed out, just be happy the game is coming to the Switch eventually. If portability is as big as some of you so vehemently claim, the game will do just fine on Switch when it finally does release.
what system did it come out for originally i thought it was the 3ds…