Dragon Quest XI for Switch seemingly built with Unreal Engine 4, likely based on the PS4 version
Ever since Dragon Quest XI was confirmed for Switch – which was quite a long time ago at this point – we’ve been wondering what sort of game it would be. Many had assumed that it would be based on the PlayStation 4 version, but Square Enix never actually came out with any sort of official word on that front. In fact, we’ve heard almost nothing about the Switch release.
The Unreal Fest East 2017 taking place in Japan today finally offers some notable information. Dragon Quest series creator Yuji Horii was in attendance, and strongly suggested that the Switch version will be based on the PlayStation 4 edition.
Horii basically said that Dragon Quest XI for Switch is developed with Unreal Engine. He questioned if it was okay to say this, with producer Yosuke Saito joking that maybe it’s a 2D version made with the tech in order to blur the clarity of what Horii said (which probably shouldn’t have been mentioned). But then programmer Mitsuru Kamiyama noted that it’s likely the PlayStation 4 version.
Unreal Engine 4 supports Switch from version 4.15, but Dragon Quest XI was developed under 4.13. Square Enix still seems to be working on the porting process.
This isn’t something that Square Enix said, but version 4.15 appears to have a number of benefits over 4.13 such as improved load times, the ability to process objects more efficiently, etc. The engine itself is optimized, so there is a chance that the gap in between hardware capability of the PlayStation 4 and Switch might be slightly less due to the engine’s improvement.
