Image via Dragon Quest X website
© ARMOR PROJECT/BIRD STUDIO/SQUARE ENIX © SUGIYAMA KOBO
Square Enix announced at a press briefing on Wednesday that it plans to add a companion character named “Oshaberi Slimey” to its Dragon Quest X Online game that will use Google’s generative AI Gemini. Square Enix claims that using Gemini, the character will be able to converse with players and assist them with the game.
Square Enix is currently accepting applications for a closed beta test featuring the technology and character until March 30.
Square Enix made the announcement at a press briefing it held alongside Google Cloud, highlighting the latter’s concept of “Living Games,” which is what it calls the use of AI in the development, marketing, and gameplay stage. In Google’s vision of the technology, AI is supposedly used to assist in development and marketing to drive down costs, and on the player-facing gameplay side as a feature to provide content and assistance.
In the briefing, series creator Yūji Horii envisioned using AI for characters that can assist players in fights.
Square Enix released Dragon Quest X for the Wii in August 2012, for Wii U consoles in March 2013, and for PC in September 2013. There have also been Android and Nintendo 3DS versions of the game. Square Enix released the game’s PS4 and Switch versions in 2017, and released a version for browsers in 2020. The game’s Nintendo Wii U and Nintendo 3DS versions’ service ended in March 2024.
Dragon Quest X Offline: Mezameshi Itsutsu no Shuzoku, the offline version of the Dragon Quest X game, launched for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam in September 2022 in Japan after a delay from February 2022. The game launched on iOS and Android devices in January 2025.
Sources: Gamer (高島おしゃむ), 4Gamer (F5/世界のザキヤマ), The Sankei Shimbun (高木克聡)
