Dragon Quest 40th Anniversary Stream Announced by Square Enix

Get ready for some cheerful slimes! A special streaming event is on the horizon to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Dragon Quest. The iconic RPG series first launched in Japan on May 27, 1986, and while it has always had a loyal fanbase outside of Japan, its global popularity surged with the release of Dragon Quest XI in 2017. Since then, there have been several top-down remakes of earlier titles, including the upcoming Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake in 2024, Dragon Quest I + II HD Remake in 2025, and Dragon Quest VII Reimagined in 2026.

Here’s what you need to know to catch the event and what to expect.

The Dragon Quest 40th anniversary celebration will kick off at 6 a.m. PST / 9 a.m. EST / 2 p.m. BST, streaming live on the official Dragon Quest YouTube channel. The event is set to last around 10 minutes, and the team is eager for fans to tune in.

What better way to celebrate such a milestone than by teasing the future of the series? It’s been five years since the announcement of Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate during the 35th anniversary event in 2021. While 10 minutes is a brief window, if a significant portion is dedicated to a sneak peek of DQ XII, fans will have plenty to discuss. Plus, it’s common for major titles to appear in multiple summer showcases, so a fresh glimpse of Dragon Quest XII could be followed by more at PlayStation’s State of Play on June 2, the main Summer Game Fest showcase on June 5, or the Xbox Games Showcase on June 7.

Earlier this month, series creator Yuji Horii hinted at what’s to come during the KosoKoso livestream.

“We’ll be doing a livestream on May 27. I think we’ll be able to make an announcement about the next game,” Horii mentioned. “We’ll also have various other things besides the next game, so please look forward to it.”

It seems Horii may have let slip some info too soon, as the video was taken down shortly after.

A post on a gaming subreddit claimed that Square Enix Japan had uploaded eight unlisted videos to the Dragon Quest playlist on its YouTube channel ahead of the event. However, this was later debunked by another user, who discovered that the private links were actually for older videos of Dragon Quest VII Reimagined.

The Dragon Quest illustrator has turned a simple blob of goo into a beloved gaming icon.