Why put DQ10 out on PC? "I'm sure a lot of people were surprised," producer Yosuke Saito told Famitsu magazine, "but the drive to release a PC version was there from the start of DQ10 development. The biggest reason was that, when thinking about which platform was most likely to be connected to a network, the PC was the first that popped into our minds. We also live in an era where there's nearly one PC for every household, and for people who grew up with Dragon Quest, PCs have been a natural part of their entire lives. We figured it wouldn't seem unnatural."
Executive producer Yuu Miyake also brought up the more practical, financial side of running a successful MMO. "One thing I can say," he said, "looking across the series from DQ8 onward, is that the business model of creating a retail package and releasing it exclusively on a single platform has become difficult to execute. Gamers' play styles and tastes are getting segmented, and we can't settle on a single platform. We're also in an era where trying to make back development costs on a title good enough to be part of the main story is getting more difficult with the traditional business model. We have to build a new business model, one that doesn't end with a retail package being purchased. So, when we decided to have DQX be an MMORPG, it was decided it'd be available for a monthly rate. Our direction was to center the game on a console that anyone can pick up and play, then gradually expand out to other platforms."
