Square Enix has looked to explain the reasons behind why Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age has been delayed on Nintendo Switch.
The next entry in the long-running role-playing series will release on PlayStation 4 and PC in September, but, alongside the announcement, the company had added that the Nintendo Switch version would arrive “much later.”
Now producer Hokuto Okamoto has blamed the delay on an outdated Unreal Engine 4 version, adding that the development process to port the game to the portable home console is a “long way out.”
“It’s true that the Nintendo Switch version is under development at this moment in time,” Okamoto explained to GameSpot. “Specifically with regards to the development, this game was developed on the Unreal Engine, but the version for Unreal Engine needs to be updated, I suppose, in order to support Switch. In that sense, the development is still expected to take a very long time. It’s still a long way out.”
That blame and deflection is confusing, however. Epic Games released Unreal Engine 4.16 in May 2017, which delivered “fully-featured native support” for Nintendo Switch.
Okamoto admitted that Square Enix had considered holding back the PlayStation 4 and PC versions to release simultaneously with Nintendo Switch, but that they had decided to move forward with those.
“Of course, we did consider releasing PS4 and a Switch version around the same time if that was even a possibility, but right now the outlook for the Switch version is still unclear at this moment in time,” he added. “The Japan team, they wanted to release Dragon Quest XI and bring it overseas as soon as possible for our fans overseas, which is why they proceeded with the PS4 [and] Steam version[s] this time.”
Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age will release on Nintendo Switch worldwide.
Nothing to do with the pokemon release. Nothing at all.