Dragon Quest is the original JRPG series, preceding even the likes of Final Fantasy. Although always seeing greater success in its country of origin, Dragon Quest’s characters are immediately recognizable to any video game fan – thanks in large part to Akira Toriyama’s distinctive art style. Many consider the original Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation to be a classic game, and the entry that solidified Dragon Quest’s place as an enduring franchise.
This explains the hype for Square Enix’s return to the title with the upcoming Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. HD-2D RPGs are a relatively recent trend where the gameplay loops of traditional 2D RPGs are combined with gorgeously rendered environments and quality-of-life improvements (such as reducing the need to grind for EXP). Previews for Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake have been well-received, being praised by old-school fans and newcomers alike.
In this article, we’re seeking out the potential live streaming audience for Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake based on the popularity of past Dragon Quest games and HD-2D RPGs.
Dragon Quest Viewership is Growing, Led by Spin-Off Title Dragon Quest Monsters
Even among RPG fans, many hold the view that Dragon Quest’s heyday has passed. But Dragon Quest continues to grow in popularity: Across mainline titles and spin-offs alike, each subsequent game generates higher viewership on live-streaming platforms. The most recent mainline entry, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age, brought in 2.2M hours watched in its first week – an impressive feat given the game was released back in 2017 before the COVID-era bump in live-streaming viewership. More recently, 2023’s spin-off title Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince had an overwhelming turnout in its debut week with 6.8M hours watched.
Much of this support comes down to the series’ loyal Japanese community. Looking just at Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, the top 20 streamers were all Japanese, with a whopping 3.7M hours watched coming from just two channels: Junichi Kato and VTuber Kuzuha. Other streamers like dmf_kyochan proved their dedication with even more airtime, creating 122 hours worth of content. It follows then that any successful Dragon Quest launch needs to appeal firstly to this core Japanese fanbase, either through influencer marketing or in-person promotional events hosted in Japan. But the question is whether Square Enix can find non-Japanese-speaking streamers to support Dragon Quest.
HD-2D RPGs Like Octopath Traveler Have a Dedicated Fanbase on Live Streaming
To find alternative audiences and streamers for Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, it’s worth looking at the most directly related genre: Other HD-2D RPGs. While the term “HD-2D” is intimately associated with Square Enix RPGs starting with Octopath Traveler back in 2018, it more generally refers to using 2D sprites on top of a 3D background with an aim towards capturing the glory of the SNES RPG days.
Using this definition for HD-2D games, their performance on live streaming can be more accurately gauged. The most popular HD-2D RPG in its first week is Sea of Stars with 1.9M hours watched, compared to Octopath Traveler in second place with 1.4M hours watched. Among these games, there are also many HD-2D remakes, including Live A Live and Tactics Ogre: Reborn with 650K and 450K hours watched, respectively. These remakes might give a more accurate measure of the expected viewership for Dragon Quest III: HD-2D Remake.
Sea of Stars is a particularly interesting example to look at. As one of the few non-Square Enix published HD-2D RPGs, it seems to find a much more global appeal on live-streaming platforms with top streamers from the U.S. (BarbarousKing), South Korea (옥냥이), and Spain (alexelcapo). Sea of Stars also succeeded thanks to support from many smaller streamers rather than a few big-name streamers, with an airtime of 62K hours in its first week compared to just 30K for Octopath Traveler. If Square Enix wants to find new fans for its pre-existing IP, it could be worth appealing to this demographic.
The Audience Overlap Between Dragon Quest and HD-2D RPGs
Looking more closely at the audience overlap between Dragon Quest games and other HD-2D RPG titles may reveal potential new fans for the series. In the analysis below, we look at what proportion of Dragon Quest viewers (left) also watched HD-2D RPGs (top). It’s worth noting that games with smaller audiences (e.g. Dragon Quest Builders II) will often feature larger percentages than games with massive followings (e.g. Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince). As such, both percentages and viewership should be considered when making inferences based on audience overlap data.
8.9% of people who watched the most recent mainline title Dragon Quest XI also watched Sea of Stars, while 8.4% watched Octopath Traveler 2. Both of these HD-2D RPGs are entirely new titles, whereas the overlap percentage drops for remakes like Live A Live and Star Ocean: The Second Story R. This difference in overlap makes sense, as it represents viewers who are fans of new RPGs but not remakes (perhaps seeking new content).
Dragon Quest V on the other hand, a retro title with no modern remakes, caters to a more hardcore RPG fanbase and therefore sees more overlap with HD-2D RPG titles like Octopath Traveler 2 (14.4%) and Star Ocean: The Second Story R (12.1%). Dragon Quest V viewers may also be loyal Square Enix fans, as just 1% of them also watched Sea of Stars. Partnering with Dragon Quest V streamers may therefore be more effective in generating Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake viewers than working with Dragon Quest XI streamers.
Dragon Quest’s legacy in video gaming nearly guarantees exposure from Japanese streamers. But for Square Enix to maximize the full potential of their brilliant library of games, they need to expand out to non-Japanese-speaking fans of HD-2D RPGs on live-streaming platforms. As an example, popular German-speaking Sea of Stars streamer Dennsen86 hosts retro game streams that would be perfectly suited to Square Enix’s older RPGs.
When Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake releases on the 14th of November this year, we’ll see which audiences gravitate toward the title. Finding hardcore fans through this game (and the upcoming Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remakes) will build a strong influencer platform for when Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate releases in 2025.
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