"Critical bug" delays Dragon Quest IX News

Square Enix has delayed the release of Dragon Question IX in Japan because of a recently discovered "critical bug" in the software.

The DS-exclusive RPG will now launch on 11th July across the region. A European date, the publisher told Eurogamer, remains TBC.

"It has been recently discovered that the software in development contains an unforeseen critical bug," said the Square Enix in a statement.

"Although much effort has been made to fix this bug and test the usability in hopes that the game could still be released on the originally announced date, we have reached an unfortunate conclusion that it would take a longer time to fulfil these tasks in order to assure our customers of a product that they can enjoy safely."

The DQ IX delay, along with a predicted under-performance of offline games, has caused the RPG specialist to lower yearly earning forecasts by 16 per cent. That represents a loss of JPY 27 billion, or approximately GBP 211 million.

The Square Enix financial papers blame "a severe business environment".

We've not seen anything of Dragon Quest IX since an early preview back in 2007. Still, this remains one of - if not the - biggest RPG series in Japan, and developer Level 5 will be lavishing the expected amount of care we've come to expect of each fully-fledged instalment in the series.

And if the quality of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King on PS2 is anything to go by, then we're in for a treat.

Head over to our Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King review to find out why.