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FFXIV, FFXI, and Dragon Quest 10 subscribers total(ed) 'nearly' 1M
Square-Enix has released its summary of 2014's finances with the start of the new year, and the good news is that it looks pretty rosy. According to the summary of the financial year that ended in March of 2014, the company's fortunes had improved immensely. Of more specific interest to the MMO market, of course, is the fact that the report gives some idea of the subscribers for Final Fantasy XIV, Final Fantasy XI, and the currently Japan-only title Dragon Quest X. According to the report, all three titles together boasted "nearly" one million subscribers, with the lion's share likely belonging to Final Fantasy XIV. Specifics are not discussed, nor does the report clarify whether these subscriber numbers are from the end of the financial year in March or the end of the calendar year in December (we assume the former). The most recent official word from Square-Enix was 2.5 million registered accounts for FFXIV in December 2014.
Dragon Quest X working on a PC port, overseas release
Did you know that there's a Dragon Quest MMO? The popular and long-running RPG series came out with a console MMO version in Dragon Quest X, although to date it's been confined to the boundaries of Japan. This may be changing, however, as Square-Enix is eyeballing the PC and overseas market. Producer Yosuke Saito confirmed that the studio is working on a PC port of the console MMO: "The drive to release a PC version was there from the start of Dragon Quest X development. The biggest reason was that, when thinking about which platform was most likely to be connected to a network, the PC was the first that popped into our minds." The PC port of the game will be available in Japan in September. Square-Enix has been a little more secretive about an overseas release but did say that it's in the works. The studio isn't sure that it'll be rolled out in the same way that Final Fantasy XI was, as Saito thinks that Dragon Quest X will need to be released on separate servers for various countries and regions. "This is just my personal viewpoint, but different countries consume their games at different speeds and the way the communities are run also differ," he said.
Dragon Quest X coming to Wii
Even before the release of Dragon Quest IX, Square Enix is already talking about its inevitable future. Yuji Horii, the series creator, revealed at a recent press conference that the upcoming Dragon Quest X will appear on Wii. This will be the first official entry of the ultra-popular RPG series (at least in Japan) on a current-generation console. (Dragon Quest VIII for PS2, pictured.) Other than that remark, no other details were revealed.Square Enix also revealed the Japanese release date for the upcoming Dragon Quest IX. The Nintendo DS RPG will be in stores on March 28th for 5980 yen. That means the hardcore Japanese fans out there will only have to wait in line for 108 more days. Good luck guys.
