It’s almost time for some cheerful slimes! Square Enix has announced a streaming event to mark the 40th anniversary of Dragon Quest. The first installment of the beloved role-playing series made its debut in Japan on May 27, 1986. While the series has long had a devoted following outside Japan, the release of 2017’s Dragon Quest 11 saw its popularity explode internationally. In the years since, Square Enix has released multiple top-down remakes of early installments, including 2024’s Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, 2025’s Dragon Quest 1 + 2 HD Remake, and 2026’s Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined.
Here’s all the essential info you need to know to tune in, and what to expect from the event.
Dragon Quest 40th anniversary stream date, time, and how to watch
The Dragon Quest 40th anniversary event will take place at 6 a.m. PST / 9 a.m. EST / 2 p.m. BST and will be broadcast on the official Dragon Quest YouTube channel. According to the description on the video, “The program is scheduled to be about 10 minutes long. We hope you’ll tune in.”
Dragon Quest 40th anniversary stream: What to expect
What better way to mark a huge anniversary than by looking ahead to the future of the series? It’s been five years since Square Enix first announced Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate back in 2021, during the series’ 35th anniversary event. While 10 minutes is a pretty short runtime, if a good chunk of that is devoted to a fresh look at DQ12, fans will have plenty to chew on. What’s more, it’s not uncommon for major games to be featured in more than one summer showcase, so a fresh look at Dragon Quest 12 here could be followed by an additional trailer at PlayStation’s State of Play on June 2, the main Summer Game Fest showcase on June 5, or the Xbox Games Showcase on June 7.
Earlier this month, series creator Yuji Horii told the audience of the KosoKoso livestream offered a preview.
“We’ll be doing a live stream on May 27. I think we’ll be able to make an announcement about the next game,” Horii stated. “We’ll also have various other things besides the next game, so please look forward to it.”
It seems like Horii wasn’t supposed to share that info, because the video was taken down soon after.
A post on the Gaming Leaks and Rumours subreddit claimed that Square Enix Japan posted eight unlisted videos to the Dragon Quest playlist on its YouTube channel ahead of the event. However, the post was later debunked by another user, who found the private video links were actually for older videos of Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined.
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