Dragon Quest X

The subscription-based Japanese exclusive Dragon Quest X – released on the Wii in 2012 and the Wii U just last year – has today reached a significant milestone. According to Producer Yosuke Saito via Twitter, the Square Enix MMORPG has now sold a total of one million copies.

Last April, the title had shifted just 33,000 units in the first week of its Wii U release, being completely dominated by sales figures from the same period for Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon – clocking in at 110,000 units – and Animal Crossing: New Leaf, which had already been on sale for months and still managed to move 58,000 units.

Square Enix hoped the Wii U edition of Dragon Quest X would revitalise the subscription-based game’s fortunes, although its failure to make an impact instead raised concerns about the brand name behind it, as well as the company – having already come off a rough period with underperforming games and poor financial results.

Unfortunately, odds of a Western localisation still seem slim; import copies aren't much better, being IP locked, and refusing to work for legitimate Western users. There are ways to bypass the system, but even then it's trial and error.

It seems the release has crept past that one million landmark with a little help from multiple releases, with the Wii version performing well (by MMORPG standards) in 2012 and later 2013 arrivals on PC and Android adding to overall results.

Let us know in the comments what you think about this latest milestone, and what may have hindered the breakout success of Dragon Quest X and held it back from the West.

[source gematsu.com]