Dragon Quest Monsters Returns to PlayStation After 24 Years

The last time a Dragon Quest Monsters game appeared on a PlayStation console, it was 2002, the system was a PS1, and the game never left Japan. Twenty-four years later, Square Enix is finally breaking that streak. Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World launches December 3, 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, Switch, and PC via Steam and Microsoft Store, as announced during yesterday's Nintendo Direct.

Nintendo has practically owned this spin-off series for over two decades. Every mainline Monsters entry since that PS1 collection has been exclusive to Nintendo handhelds, from the GBA through the 3DS. Going multiplatform is a genuine shift in strategy for Square Enix, and I think it's overdue. There's no reason a franchise built around monster collecting and synthesis should be locked to one ecosystem in 2026, especially when the main Dragon Quest series has already gone cross-platform.

The game features more than 500 monsters, dual protagonists named Bianca and Nera, and a monster synthesis system that lets you fuse creatures into new ones. Square Enix and co-developer TOSE first revealed it during Dragon Quest Day last month, so a December launch is a quick turnaround from announcement to release. As Push Square noted, it's also one of the few titles willing to park itself in early December, just two weeks after GTA 6's November 19 launch. Different audiences, sure, but that window is going to be brutal for anything that isn't Rockstar.

Pre-orders are live now. The Standard Edition runs $59.99 / £49.99, while a Digital Deluxe Edition at $94.99 / £79.99 adds DLC content and 48 hours of early access. Square Enix also has Dragon Quest XI S hitting Switch 2 in September and Dragon Quest XII still somewhere on the horizon, so the franchise is getting a proper push heading into the holidays.