Dragon Quest co-creator Yuji Horii releases a new AI-generated game and says it took 30 minutes to create.

Background: From Solo Creation to AI Collaboration

Dragon Quest co-creator Yuji Horii has just released a new game that he says was made, or rather prompted, in about half an hour thanks to generative AI. The announcement came in a weekend post on X dated October 11, 2026.

In the post, Horii recalled creating 1983's The Portopia Serial Murder Case mostly on his own. He wrote that he came up with the story himself, drew the pictures himself, did the programming himself, and created the game all by himself.

Horii's interest in the technology began a while ago. Earlier this year, MMO Dragon Quest 10 teamed up with Google's Gemini AI to power an NPC chatbot called Chatty Slimey. In a Famitsu interview translated by GamesRadar, the 72-year-old developer defended the use of AI in that collaboration.

Development Process: From Story, Art, and Code to a Prompt

The game linked in Horii's post is a text-based interrogation game. He noted that its production time was just about 30 minutes. He also warned users not to press the boost button.

The post contrasts two models of solo creation. In 1983, Horii handled the story, pictures, programming, and the game itself. In the new example, he says that even if he cannot draw pictures or program, he can give instructions to the AI and create a decent game all by himself. He calls the result truly astonishing.

Latest Progress: Future Chatbots, Sequels, and AI Debate

The post and earlier coverage show that Horii is not stopping at a 30-minute experiment. VGC noted that he is also toying with the idea of an AI-powered chatbot for one of his future games. He is currently involved with Dragon Quest 12: Beyond Dreams and a surprise sequel to The Portopia Serial Murder Case, a follow-up that has been decades in the making.

Horii's experiment arrives amid a wider debate about generative AI in games. Players, developers, and actors have worried about job security. Just this month, Google and Unity revealed an AI-game-making tool that the coverage describes as quite depressing.

Current Stage: AI as a Fast Production Layer

Horii's new game shows generative AI turning instructions into a text-based interrogation game in about 30 minutes. His earlier solo work shows what he once controlled directly: story, pictures, programming, and the finished game. His recent AI work, including Chatty Slimey and the new 30-minute game, shows him using AI as a fast production layer while still setting the concept and the warning about the boost button.