Ahead of Dragon's Dogma 2, director says "We don't need to" call the RPG series a cult classic anymore: "It's sold its way and made its way into many gamers' hearts"

Dragon's Dogma 2's director says we no longer need to call the original RPG a cult game due to its sales figures and popularity.

In a new interview with VG247, Dragon's Dogma 2 director Hideaki Itsuno, who also helmed the original RPG at Capcom, dispels the idea that Dragon's Dogma is still a "cult" game. "I'd like to think we don't need to call it that anymore," Itsuno says to the outlet.

"It's been a long time since the first game came out, and over the years I think it's sold its way and made its way into many gamer's hearts," the director continues. "Hopefully, now that we're on the eve of releasing Dragon's Dogma 2, we can finally say that it's just another popular, well-selling series that a lot of gamers love rather than treating it as a cult concern."

Dragon's Dogma was first released in 2012 for the PS3 and Xbox 360, but it's since been ported to the PS4 and Xbox One, as well as the PC and Nintendo Switch platforms. As of September 2023, the original game had sold over 7.9 million copies around the world, spawning a Netflix anime series in 2020 and now a sequel, 12 years after the original game.

It's a little difficult to pinpoint why Dragon's Dogma is still referred to as a "cult" hit by fans. Itsuno's right to point out that the RPG has sold well - it's sold nearly as many copies as Nier Automata, for example, a game that was a wild breakout hit for developer PlatinumGames and helped push the Nier series in general to international fame.

One could argue that Dragon's Dogma was developing features that were well ahead of its time. The Pawn system, for example, where the player character could issue orders to followers in the heat of battle, is generally considered to be innovative for its time, and the 'grab' feature, where the player could cling onto limbs of huge beasts, was pretty mind-blowing for 2012. 

One could also argue that Dragon's Dogma has never really received the proper recognition for pioneering features like this, which is perhaps why fans still consider it a cult-like game. Legions of fans on sites like Twitter near-constantly urge newcomers to try out Capcom's original RPG, and perhaps this dedication has also helped feed into that "cult" game mentality over the last decade or so.

It'll be really interesting to see how Dragon's Dogma 2 sells at launch, considering Itsuno's comments, and the original game's increased popularity in 2024. After huge hits with Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, and Street Fighter games, is Capcom poised for yet another smash-hit success game?

You can read our full Dragon's Dogma 2 preview for more comments from director Itsuno on the sequel.