A new report is claims longtime Dragon Quest series producer Yu Miyake is stepping down amidst ongoing delays with the latest title, Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate.

The new report (via Bloomberg) claims Miyake is stepping down from overseeing the Dragon Quest series to run Square Enix’s smartphone division, what many consider to be a demotion in comparison. The new decision to move Miyake was reportedly made after Dragon Quest XII repeatedly got delayed.

The last bit of news we got for Dragon Quest XII was a little over a year ago via a quietly posted jobs listing, where series creator Yuji Horii talked up its gameplay. We still have yet to see a real trailer or gameplay for the title.

Dragon Quest XII was blatantly teased nearly five years ago and was officially announced two years later, in 2021. The last release for the series was Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, which launched in December 2023 for Nintendo Switch. Dragon Quest XI was originally released back in 2017.

Originally from Hokkaido, Miyake joined Enix back in 1990 at the age of 23 and initially worked as a PR person for the series. Eventually he was given a leadership position overseeing the Dragon Quest team, and after the Square Enix merger, he became a producer of the entire Dragon Quest series.

Since the release of the Dragon Quest V remake for PS2 in 2004, Miyake took on a new and more direct role as an actual producer for the games. He has remained in this role until this new report, if it turns out to be true.

The report also claims a top contender to replace Miyake as the Dragon Quest series producer is none other than Yosuke Saito, mostly known for being producer of the ever-popular NieR series. Saito also served as a producer on the last mainline release, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age.

As with any rumor we report on – take this with a grain of salt. We’ll keep you guys posted.