Dragon Quest XII is being co-developed by ORCA, along with the previously announced HEXADRIVE

Publication date of the original Japanese article: 2021-09-21 19:19 (JST)
Translated by. Ryuki Ishii

Japanese developer ORCA is co-developing Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate. The company has announced on their recruitment page that they are participating in the development of Dragon Quest XII and are looking for new staff members. They are working with Square Enix on the project. This is the second company that has announced its involvement in the development of Dragon Quest XII.

Dragon Quest XII is the latest title in the series announced in May of this year. According to Yuji Horii, they are aiming to make a darker, more mature Dragon Quest game. The new title will overhaul the traditional command battle and will feature a scenario that will push players to make difficult choices. The game is being developed in Unreal Engine 5.

Just a few days ago, on September 13, Osaka-based company HEXADRIVE had announced its involvement with the project. And two days later, on September 15, ORCA seems to have started recruiting staff members as well. They are looking for staff not only for Dragon Quest XII but also for an unannounced Unreal Engine project. They are hiring for career positions as well as freelance positions.

ORCA is a studio founded in 2011 by Takuya Iwasaki, who previously worked for Namco and cavia. Shortly after the studio was formed, they participated in the development of Dragon Quest X. The company continued to work on content updates and development tools for the game. They also participated in the development of Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age and played a key role. To sum up, they have been involved in multiple Dragon Quest projects in the past and have experience making games in Unreal Engine. Making them a great fit for the new project.

Iwasaki also runs a company called ILCA. The two affiliates ILCA and ORCA were established at about the same time. According to a 2015 interview by Famicareer (ファミキャリ！),  ORCA lays its focus on game development, while ILCA has a strong reputation for their CG production. ILCA is involved in the development of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl. Although ILCA and ORCA have different strengths, they are both talented studios involved in major projects.

*ILCA is involved in a new Ace Combat project as well

As for the Dragon Quest XII project, Takeshi Uchikawa, who previously worked on Dragon Quest XI S, is directing it. With ORCA co-developing the game, it seems like parties who were involved in Dragon Quest XI are joining forces again. It is pretty common in large-scale projects to see multiple studios co-developing a game. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising to see more studios joining in. We can’t wait to see what kind of game the joined force will create.