[Vyse]

Article:

Ryutaro Ichimura, who is known as a chief producer of the Dragon Quest series, has left Square Enix as of March 31, he announced on Twitter.

"I've started to count how many more games I'll be able to make in my lifetime," said Ichimura, who turns 47 this year. Especially now, when it takes three to four years to make a game, "we have to carefully consider each title we make."

He continued, "Once I can reset and reflect, I'd like to leave this blessed environment, and explore what can be made if I dare to push myself into a higher-risk environment."

Ichimura was most recently producer of Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai, which was confirmed for a global release this fall earlier today. Ichimura has since handed the reigns to his successor, but added to, "Rest assured that I have already overseen it to near-completion."

Source: https://www.gematsu.com/2023/03/dragon-quest-series-chief-producer-ryutaro-ichimura-leaves-square-enix

 

[Zeta Dragoon]

Are Dragon Quest III HD-2D and Dragon Quest XII in development hell or is Square Enix just waiting for Final Fantasy XVI and VII Remake Part 2 to release before ramping up marketing on them?

 

[Mickmrly]

Are Dragon Quest III HD-2D and Dragon Quest XII in development hell or is Square Enix just waiting for Final Fantasy XVI and VII Remake Part 2 to release before ramping up marketing on them?

They could be in development hell, but on the other hand it took them 10 years or so to release Kingdom Hearts 3 which had half the worlds of Kingdom Hearts 2, so maybe they are just too slow to develop games. I don't understand why when they make many millions of dollars(yen equivalent) in profit, they can't just hire an extra few people to release games on time.

 

[Vyse]

They just announced a Fall 2023 release for Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai which has been in development for a while, so I'm guessing that will be their big Dragon Quest game to release this year.

I'm not really expecting news on Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate for maybe another year but a new proper trailer for Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake in a couple months or so would be pretty sweet.

 

[Zeta Dragoon]

They just announced a Fall 2023 release for Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai which has been in development for a while, so I'm guessing that will be their big Dragon Quest game to release this year.

I'm not really expecting news on Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate for maybe another year but a new proper trailer for Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake in a couple months or so would be pretty sweet.

I've gotten the impression Infinity Strash is just a spinoff game but the source material/100 episode anime for Adventure of Dai have enough content to be an outright full Dragon Quest title. Certainly one of the best fantasy stories I've seen recently.

 

[Vyse]

They could be in development hell, but on the other hand it took them 10 years or so to release Kingdom Hearts 3 which had half the worlds of Kingdom Hearts 2, so maybe they are just too slow to develop games. I don't understand why when they make many millions of dollars(yen equivalent) in profit, they can't just hire an extra few people to release games on time.

It only seems that way because they tend to announce their games early to build hype. I think that money goes into developing spin-offs too, so in between the main titles you have stuff like Dragon Quest Heroes, Builders, Treasures, Adventure of Dai etc. The same deal with Final Fantasy. So not really development hell, in my opinion, more likely that they are just careful to give each game enough time and attention.

 

[Rock And Roll]

Didn't someone else prominent just leave the DQ staff?

 

[Vyse]

Oh wow, it really has been two years. That was when the Dragon Quest series turned 35 so it will turn 40 in 2026.

That's crazy because all they had to show for Dragon Quest XII was the title logo and some vague details.

 

[FactsAreDead]

"I've started to count how many more games I'll be able to make in my lifetime," said Ichimura, who turns 47 this year

People laughed about me when I wrote a blog article many years ago titled "Will you live long enough to see Final Fantasy 23?". But it really has gotten insane how long video game development has become. Here we have someone who's "only" 47 years old, and yet he's correct: If we go with 5 years per title, he's got 3-4 more games before retirement. Insane. Absolutely insane.

It's what I've been thinking about in context of my beloved Xenoblade-games: Takahashi Tetsuya is 56 years old already. Any Xenoblade-game could be his last one at this point. Heck, Eiji Aonuma is 60, who knows whether he has another Zelda-game in him?

We're reaching the end of a collective lifetime, both on the creator AND the consumer side. So many famous, beloved game designer legends will drop out of the business in the next 10 years or so. It will be tragic.

 

[Mickmrly]

Didn't someone else prominent just leave the DQ staff?

I think that was the Square Enix President himself, Yosuke Matsuda, who announced he will be stepping down soon. (DPAD: Square Enix president replaced by Takashi Kiryu) Maybe there is a bit of a changing of the guard at the company? I don't know whether that is a good thing or a bad thing to be honest.

 

[Vyse]

Didn't someone else prominent just leave the DQ staff?

Yeah, another producer Ryota Aomi, worked on Dragon Quest Heroes, Heroes II, Swords etc.

Ryutaro Ichimura was also producer for Dragon Quest VIII and IX.

Yosuke Saito was producer for X and XI. Not sure if he is also producing XII but Takeshi Uchikawa (DQ XI) is directing again, so maybe.