Dragon Quest 10 causes bad stock shock

By Robert Purchese Published 6 September, 2011

Sony and Square Enix lose investor faith.

Square Enix and Sony's stock has fallen following the announcement of Dragon Quest 10.

An article headlined "Dragon Quest Shock Causes Decline" appeared in Japanese newspaper Nikkei (read by Andriasang).

Investors have apparently lost faith in Sony's game business following the announcement of Dragon Quest 10 as a Nintendo exclusive on Wii and Wii U.

Couple that with Sony's flagging TV business and you have Sony's lowest share price of 2011. Nikkei also mentioned Sony's "political problems" in Europe, but we're not sure what those are.

Dragon Quest 10 publisher Square Enix has also been negatively affected by the game's announcement, suffering an 11 per cent drop in share price.

Dragon Quest 10 was unveiled yesterday as an online RPG for Wii and Wii U. And Square Enix has opted to develop the new game in house rather than at Level-5 - although key talent will report for duty.

Can the Wii cope with an online RPG? Will there be enough Wii U owners out there to sell to? And how will Square Enix eradicate the memory of MMO-gone-wrong Final Fantasy 14 Online?

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 9 months ago

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  • Ryze #1 9 months ago

    I think they'll make a huge mess of it. All of them :)

  • landlock #2 9 months ago

    Since when was Level 5 the series creator and it's been known for ages that it was a Wii exculsive since like 2008.
    Edited by landlock at 06/09/11 @ 09:26

  • LockeTribal #3 9 months ago

    Level-5 didn't create Dragon Quest, Enix did. The only titles they had involvement with, as far as I'm aware, are DQVIII and DQIX.

  • HyperTails #4 9 months ago

    Oh i'm sure Sony will probably just get a Monster Hunter game out and these investors will be appeased again.

    Though I doubt the Wii can cope with an online RPG TBH, its online system is pathetic. And as for the Wii U, well we don't really know what its going to be like but if its anything like the 3DS then terrible it will be.

    Edit: Fanboys, the Wii has a crusty old online system, this is true. I said that if the Wii U's is like the 3DS online system then it will be crap, but I haven't said it is because we don't know what it'll be like. I was just saying if Nintendo don't learn from the 3DS it'll be a joke. I haven't raged on your beloved Nintendo here, so no need to neg me down.
    Edited by HyperTails at 06/09/11 @ 09:37

  • DavidBoring #5 9 months ago

    things i dont understand: #8 - the stock market

  • MavSkipper #6 9 months ago

    It wouldn't surprise me if this comes out before the PS3 version of FFXIV.

  • Feralx1 #7 9 months ago

    Its simple. Squenix's stock went down because they're bringing a game out on the Wii that's about to be superseded with the Wii U, and the Wii U that's coming out after what investors see as a failure, the 3DS.
    Sony's stock went down because investors are wondering why if they have the better console that Dragon Quest (a big title in Japan) isn't coming out on their console even after Nintendo's console business is struggling.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #8 9 months ago

    The Wii's online system might be pathetic but in case of an MMORPG it might actually be a good thing that it is practically nonexistant - that means that DQ10 can actually build its own online system and will not have to work around the set limitations and rules of other existing systems (like XBL and PSN). In this case this could actually be a good thing.

    (Not saying it would not be possible on the other systems, but the Wii not having an online infrastructure will definitely not pose any problems)

  • WinterSnowblind #9 9 months ago

    This is hardly surprising, DQ has always been popular because of how closely it sticks to tradition. I don't mind certain features involving, getting rid of random battles in IX was a great step.

    But I don't think anyone wanted to see a FFXIII style battle system, or a bigger focus on multiplayer. One of the biggest complaints about IX was your party having no personality or story, so why are they not fixing this? Why are they making it an MMO and if it really had to be, why put it on the Wii?

  • Makeem95 #10 9 months ago

    So did Sony stock go down because of people who thinks DQX will be a success on the Wii/Wii U?
    Or has the announcement of DQX been taken as a negative to the whole gaming industry? (I note Nintendo is down as well today.)

    I'm confused...
    Edited by Makeem95 at 06/09/11 @ 09:47

  • Cid #11 9 months ago

    Dragon Quest games have been made by several different companies over the years. The only mainstays are Horii (creator), Toriyama (character design) and Sugiyama (composer). This is the first Dragon Quest to be developed internally.

  • WinterSnowblind #12 9 months ago

    @Makeem95
    Sony stock went down, because investors believe they should have secured the game as a Playstation exclusive. The DQ games are ridiculously huge in Japan, the country literally shuts down when they come out so everyone can play.. having it on your system is a really big deal.

    Personally, I'd have loved to see Microsoft step in, making it a 360 exclusive. The reaction in Japan would have been interesting.

  • Silent-Hal #13 9 months ago

    Investor: Without Dragon Quest X, you're doomed to fail. Doomed!
    Sony guy: But sir the sales of the PS3 are going up, not down. Plus with the Vita and games from successful franchises like Resistance 3 and Uncharted 3 on the horizon there's no reason to believe our gaming business is in trouble at all.
    Investor: Doesn't matter! Dragon Quest most popular game in the world! How can you be popular without a Dragon Quest game?!
    Sony guy: Well we do have Monster Hunter, and that sells just as much here as Dragon Quest does.
    Investor: Monster Hunter? Pfftt that game old news! Who plays that now? Dragon Quest is the next big thing! With online!
    Sony guy: What...
    Investor: *trollface* Problem Sony?

  • Makeem95 #14 9 months ago

    @WinterSnowblind
    Ok, that might be why Sony went down, but surely Nintendo should have gone up as they have the DQ exclusive?
    Edited by Makeem95 at 06/09/11 @ 10:08

  • Whitster #15 9 months ago

    Anyone remember True Fantasy Online? Level-5s cancelled cel shaded MMO for the original Xbox, this looks suspiciously similar.

  • RoOhDaMite #16 9 months ago

    Wait a minute, how exactly does a game that maybe not be successfull on wii have bad influence on Sony's stocks.

  • WinterSnowblind #17 9 months ago

    @Makeem95
    Square's stock has gone down because of the extremely negative reception the game has been getting. Not sure how Nintendo's was affected.. and yes, this is a totally bizarre situation.

  • TonyHarrison #18 9 months ago

    DQX was announced for the Wii in 2008, and has been repeatedly reconfirmed for the Wii on a regular basis since then, regardless of fanboy speculation hoping for a PS3 release. If investors have paid attention to those fanboys, then that just proves how few investors actually know what the hell they're doing, and that's without going into the fact that Nintendo platforms are the only ones that have proven they can sell games in the kind of numbers that DQ would likely do this generation.

    It's going to Wii U as well because of SE's ridiculously long dev cycles this gen. Like I said, it was announced in 2008 yet the footage shown the other day was the first anyone had seen of it. By the time it's ready the Wii U may well be a few months into it's life, if not more, and this could be it's first big third party seller in Japan.

    Of course if they do go for a subscription model then that may hinder things a bit, but it should still comfortably take MHTri's record of being the most successful sub based console game Japan has ever seen.

  • Biker_Bob_1971 #19 9 months ago

    Post deleted at 16:59:10 06-02-2012

  • Steroyd #20 9 months ago

    Oh dear lord, this is Final Fantasy XI all over again, the only way this could be redeemed is if the WiiU has a built in hard drive otherwise DQX is dead in the water.

  • Laythe_AD #21 9 months ago

    Because Squeenix have such a good history with anything resembling an internet connection. Oh dear. I can see why investors are concerned on their behalf. I fail to see why it should affect sony's stock, when its a DQ title in name alone.

  • Mr.Spo #22 9 months ago

    Square Enix won't be constricted by Wii's flimsy online structure--they can create their own structures to use for Dragon Quest X, as Capcom did for Monster Hunter Tri, skipping friend codes and all. Granted, after Final Fantasy 14, that might not be much cause for encouragement, but the idea that Wii's online offering will hamper this game is a big misconception. It's Square Enix that will be responsible for the online structures this game employs, both on Wii and Wii U.

    The impact on Sony's stock will probably be because there was speculation Dragon Quest X would make the jump to PS3 or Vita, what with so many classing Wii as a 'dead' system. I guess this just confirms, that for the time being, Sony has lost one of the biggest exclusives in Japan completely--which isn't good news for those Japanese who wish to invest in Sony.

  • silversun #23 9 months ago

    Intresting to see it may be because it not on a sony system.
    Been reading up on this a bit, alot of people not sure why it happened.
    ideas include fear of it being another final fantasy 14 and that its not comming out this year.
    But the sony one is probley most intresting to read.
    Anyway whatever it is, after watching the trailer it looks fairly good and may turn out well.
    As a fan of games all that really matters is how good the game will be and if its fun to play.
    Edited by silversun at 06/09/11 @ 12:18

  • alcides #24 9 months ago

    Can someone explain how the fuck this is SONY related? honestly I don't know... :/

  • Biker_Bob_1971 #25 9 months ago

    Post deleted at 16:59:10 06-02-2012

  • alcides #26 9 months ago

    Do NOT make a MMORPG - Check
    Do NOT fuck up your most successful saga - Check
    Do NOT develop a game yourselves, while your top subcontrator is making his child to another console- Check
    Do NOT develop any game for Wii, EVER. - Check
    Do NOT develop a JRPG on a console where it's already crowded with JRPGs - Check
    Do NOT develop an MMO on the only console without a HDD - Check
    Do NOT pull a Zelda TP - Check
    Do NOT associate what prestige you've got left to a failure of a company lest you be swallowed live by the stock market yourself - Check.

    Meanwhile on PS3 http://youtu.be/5aAs-vZ4rZE

  • alcides #27 9 months ago

    @biker_bob_1971

    It was. Not once but twice. For the main series anyway. That doesn't explain the link between SONY's and SE's losses, since this is obviously a Nintendo consoles game.

  • KDR_11k #28 9 months ago

    Yeah. Sure. It's the fact that it's on the Wii, a fact that has been known for many years already, that hurt their stock. Not the fact that a franchise that thrives on NOT changing from its old-school values is getting turned into an MMORPG. No siree.

  • Vortextk #29 9 months ago

    Lol continued FFXIV scares of awfulness I suppose?

  • hiddenranbir #30 9 months ago

    Basically stock owners see the announcement and aren't sure the investment will make a good return. So they sell their shares which causes the share price to go down.

    So like, yeah...it is people selling off their Sony shares because they think they won't get as much for it after DQ10 'bombs'. That is their thinking.

    That is like the gist of stock marketing isn't it?

  • kassmageant #31 9 months ago

    so nintendo stocks go down because investors don't have faith in that game, and sony goes down because they don't have said game. now make it kinect exclusive, and apeshit-insanity circle will be complete

  • alcides #32 9 months ago

    This makes no sense.

    A game which was announced three freaking years ago on Wii leads to an unrelated company losing money after it's premiered??? When will MacDonald's start losing money on DraqueX being a MMO?

    So someone explain the logic behind Square Enix losing money? They lose money because the market doesn't think DraqueX will be successful... Yet the "loss" of it, which happened 6 fucking years / 2 iterations ago, will be damageable to SONY?

    OMG SONY just didn't lose a game that's not worse investing in! PANIC EVERYONE!!!

    I'm not saying it's unrelated, I'm just pointing to the fact the original story is inconsistent at best.
    And I'm not saying it's not real either.

    It just takes morons to actually try to justify nonsense with more nonsense.

    People won't buy it on Wii so it's a loss for SONY... It's possible the guy thought the Wii was actually a SONY product. I doubt it because this is Nikkei and this is Japan. But still. Someone explain, and not with arguments so abysmal as "baycauz DQVIII was on PS2".
    Edited by alcides at 06/09/11 @ 16:16

  • Mr_Brown #33 9 months ago

    I am looking forward to this and just hope they do well with this. If they can manage to not charge a subcription fee for the west I think it could be a massive success. They will make enough by subbing Japanese customers, who will have enough users to take advantage of all the social aspects of the game. They need to hook to same customers who went for DQIX previously and they will not do this with a subscription fee.

  • Steroyd #34 9 months ago

    It's Square Enix that will be responsible for the online structures this game employs, both on Wii and Wii U.

    Yeah but the Wii doesn't have a hard drive, so they'll limited to what they can do update wise, granted the Wii has a bigger memory capacity than the PS2's dinky 32MB, but that still pales in comparison to the PS3 and Xbox 360 hard drive capacity.

  • grussbarbar #35 9 months ago

    @Steroyd
    IGN reports the Wii version will be shipped with a USB stick, presumably to allow for postrelease content.

  • KanePaws #36 9 months ago

    SE. Oh, SE...

    (._. )