Dragon Quest XI Coming to Steam and PS4 This Fall, Switch Version has a Long Way to Go: First Details

A release date draws near! On September 4, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age comes to the PlayStation 4 and PC (via Steam) in North America and Europe. The West will also receive the Nintendo Switch version of the game, but it won't be finished for quite some time.

We learned about Dragon Quest XI's journey westward last summer (quite literally, as Square Enix published a video of series creator Yuji Horii packing a Slime into a suitcase), but the game's Steam release—confirmed by Square Enix Japan during a preview event for the game last month—is a bit of a surprise.

There's a trade-off, though: North America and Europe aren't getting the Nintendo 3DS version of the game because Square Enix wants to avoid dividing its focus. "Our aim with Dragon Quest XI and the Dragon Quest brand is to grow the audience in the West," the company explains in an email distributed earlier this week. "From a business point of view, it made strategic sense to release the 3DS version in Japan in 2017. For the West in 2018, it made the most sense to focus on the PlayStation 4 and PC (Steam) platforms."

Square Enix is going all-out to make Dragon Quest XI the game that finally gets Westerners to fall in its decades-old JRPG series. From what I've observed, it might succeed.