Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake’s Steam performance is the third best in Square Enix’s history 

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake has been met with massive success recently, with its latest triumph being on Steam. The game now ranks third in the list of Square Enix’s single-purchase titles with the most concurrent players on the platform (excluding demos, downloadable content, and the like). According to SteamDB, 45,357 players were recorded playing the game simultaneously on November 17 (the first Sunday after the game’s launch), making it a night full of adventure for the heroes of Aliahan and their companions. 

Square Enix titles tend to release on consoles first before being ported over to PC, with Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake being one of the rare exceptions (although it came to Steam after a one-day-wait). The almost simultaneous multi-platform release of the game seems to be the result of Square Enix’s shift to a multi-platform strategy that attempts to “win over” PC gamers.  The lack of a big gap between the console and PC releases may also be a contributing factor to Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake’s strong performance on Steam – and this only bodes well for Square Enix’s future releases.  

A quick look at the Steam reviews shows that a good number of the player base is Japanese. This is understandable since the original Dragon Quest III was first released for the NES in Japan in 1988 and became a formative RPG for a large number of gamers. Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake currently has a “Mostly Positive” rating on Steam, with people praising elements like its graphics and soundtrack. On the other hand, criticism revolves mostly around the lack of PC options, censorship, and outdated gameplay. It seems that in its attempts to live up to the original Dragon Quest III, Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake has found itself a divisive fanbase.