'Dragon Quest XI' News: Producer Hokuto Okamoto Reveals Why the Nintendo Switch Version Is Not Expected to Arrive Anytime Soon
PC and PS4 versions of the RPG are already due out later this year
"Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age" will finally be made available to players in the west later this year.
Once released, players will be able to explore the gorgeous new world known as Erdrea, take part in numerous battles against foes of all shapes and sizes, and even check out some mini-games along the way.
PC and PS4 players will have the opportunity to join the protagonist and his friends on their epic adventure beginning Sept. 4.
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It is worth noting however that the RPG has also been announced for the Nintendo Switch, and yet, the time for when that platform will receive the aforementioned game remains unclear at this time.
Just recently, Square Enix said in a statement to IGN that "development is expected to take a long time from a technological standpoint."
While Square Enix left it at that and did not specify which technical issues are necessitating the longer development cycle for the Switch version of the game, one of the developers has now elaborated on the matter.
Producer Hokuto Okamoto was present at the recent PAX East event, and GameSpot caught up with him there.
During that interview, Okamoto revealed why the Switch version is taking so long and also offered a bit of insight into how much additional time it may need in development before it can be deemed ready for release.
According to Okamoto, the game was developed using the Unreal Engine, but in order for it to work well on the Switch, the engine itself needs to be updated.
It's unclear at this time if that Unreal Engine update is still in development or if it is ready to use right now.
Anyway, because more work needs to be done in order to get the game working well with that updated Unreal Engine, the development process is still expected to take a long time.
Okamoto even said that the Switch version of "Dragon Quest XI" is still "a long ways out."
To put things into perspective even more, Okamoto shared that there was thought being put into releasing the PS4 and Switch versions at the same time, but again, because things are still up in the air with regards to the latter variant, they have decided to just move ahead with the versions of the game coming to the PS4 and PC.
The positive takeaway here for Switch owners is that it does seem like the developers are determined to release a version of the game that will work ideally for their preferred platform, but the downside of that is it may take quite a while for it to be ready.
It's telling that the developers have been working on the Switch version even before they released the PS4 and Nintendo 3DS versions in Japan and yet they have still not been able to show any video or screenshot of it.
Hopefully, for Switch owners, they will be able to learn more about the version of "Dragon Quest XI" coming to their preferred platform before the end of this year.
