Horii praises Square Enix merger as Dragon Quest comes to Europe

Yuji Horii, creator and producer of the Dragon Quest series of RPGs, has told GamesIndustry.biz that he is "very thankful" for the Square Enix merger which allowed the best-selling Japanese series to be launched worldwide at last.

Horii was speaking in London yesterday at an event to mark the confirmation that the latest title in the 40 million unit selling franchise, Dragon Quest VIII, is to be launched in Europe under the title Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King.

"I'm very thankful of the merger," he said, referring to the merger between giant RPG publishers Square Co. and Enix Corporation in April 2003. "It has enabled the Dragon Quest series to be released in more territories than it would under Enix alone."

Prior to the merger, Square had a significant overseas business thanks to the success of the Final Fantasy series in North America and Europe, but Enix franchises such as Star Ocean and Dragon Quest, despite their popularity in Japan, had failed to establish themselves abroad.

Ryutaro Ichimura, producer of Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King, believes that as well as the changed environment at Square Enix, the European market has also developed to a point where it is more receptive to Japanese RPG titles.

"It wasn't just the merger," he told us. "There are timing aspects as well. The hardware's changed so the graphics have got better, and European tastes have changed because of the influence of anime and cartoons, so Europeans are more willing to receive this type of artwork as well. I think it's a combination of those things, and the timing's allowed it to be released in Europe this time."

However, despite the drive to bring Dragon Quest to overseas markets - where Square Enix hopes that it will repeat the success it has enjoyed in Japan, where it vies for the position of best-selling RPG franchise with Final Fantasy - Horii says that his approach to making games is unlikely to change to take tastes from abroad into account.

"I don't think I'll change my way of creating games that much," he commented. "I think that the world is getting smaller, and the things that people enjoy are becoming more common across countries, so I won't be changing my style in that sense."

"As a creator, of course, I want as many people to play my baby as possible, " he continued, "and I'm happy to see it being released in other areas."

Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King will be released in Europe on PlayStation 2 in April.