Dragon Quest creator says he’ll oversee the series until he dies and hopes to witness its 50th anniversary in 2036

“My next personal goal is to see the 50th anniversary [in 2036].”

Horii will be 82 in 2036, so it’s entirely possible he’ll still be active when Dragon Quest marks its 50th year — a comforting thought for longtime fans. While he is within the usual retirement age in Japan and elsewhere, his work on Dragon Quest XI (2017) demonstrated he still brings a distinctive creative touch to the series.

Horii and his studio, Armor Project — which co-owns the franchise with Square Enix — are developing Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate. Major updates have been limited since the title was announced in 2021, but Horii said as recently as May that the team is “putting lots of work” into the game and that it will “be great.”

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined aims to address one of the original’s few complaints: “The amount of time it takes to get to the first battle in the game is much shorter.”