After eight years of anticipation among Japanese gamers, Dragon Quest XI had a smashing sales debut. For the week of July 24 through July 30 on Media Create Sales, Sentinels of the Starry Skies sold over a combined 2 million units across 3DS and PlayStation 4. Specifically, the Nintendo 3DS leads with a staggering 1,148,888 units, while the PS4 sold 950,315 units. The Top 10 in Software can be seen below:
- [3DS] Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Square Enix, 07/29/17) – 1,148,888 (New)
- [PS4] Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Square Enix, 07/29/17) – 950,315 (New)
- [NSW] Splatoon 2 (Nintendo, 07/21/17) – 105,326 (753,411)
- [3DS] Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and The Millionaires’ Conspiracy (Level-5, 07/20/17) – 24,491 (95,358)
- [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 04/28/17) – 13,841 (601,869)
- [3DS] Hey! Pikmin (Nintendo, 07/13/17) – 11,900 (99,394)
- [PS4] Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age (Square Enix, 07/13/17) – 8,158 (127,971)
- [3DS] Sumikko Gurashi: Koko, Doko Nan Desu? (Nippon Columbia, 07/20/17) – 8,027 (28,910)
- [PSV] Kenka Bancho Otome: My Honey of Absolute Perfection (Spike Chunsoft, 07/27/17) – 6,931 (New)
- [NSW] Arms (Nintendo, 06/16/17) – 5,959 (183,945)
The Dragon Quest effect also caused a bump in hardware sales. The 3DS family rose to 142,600 units, up from over 34,000 the week prior, helped in part from the New 2DS XL (110, 963). The PS4 saw a 50% jump from 30,878 units the week prior to 93,356 units (combined PS4 and PS4 Pro sales). While the Nintendo Switch version of Dragon Quest XI is not due until later this year, the console charted second overall with 89,314 units, as Splatoon 2 sold an additional 105,326 units.
- New 2DS LL – 110,963 (17,717)
- Switch – 89,314 (98,999)
- PlayStation 4 – 82,368 (23,841)
- New 3DS LL – 26,587 (13,108)
- PlayStation 4 Pro – 10,988 (7,037)
- PlayStation Vita – 4,967 (4,545)
- 2DS – 3,680 (2,300)
- New 3DS – 1,370 (1,020)
- Wii U – 142 (176)
- PlayStation 3 – 121 (142)
- Xbox One – 94 (77)
Within Japan, the Dragon Quest series has historically been an event whenever a new installment launches. Its popularity grew such that it spawned the urban myth that the Japanese government prevented Dragon Quest games from launching on weekdays. The previous single-player installment, 2009’s Dragon Quest IX, launched on the DS to the tune of 2,318,932 copies.
Dragon Quest IX (re-subtitled Echoes of an Elusive Age) will journey to the west in 2018. Only the PS4 version has been confirmed for now, leaving the 3DS and Switch versions in a state of localization limbo.
