What’s With ‘Dragon’s Dogma Online’s’ Mysterious Countdown?

By Stefanie Fogel

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – A mysterious clock has appeared on the “Dragon’s Dogma Online” website and it’s counting down to despair, Siliconera reports.

The countdown ends on July 19 at 1 p.m. JST and it’s likely teasing new content for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game. There’s also a date — Aug. 16, 2018 — which is probably when the supposed update will drop. We’ll find out for sure in just under seven days.

“Dragon’s Dogma Online” is a follow-up to the 2012 action-RPG “Dragon’s Dogma.” Available on PC, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 exclusively in Japan, it charges players with defending the land of Lestania as one of the “Arisen.” It combines traditional MMORPG elements with notable mechanics from “Dragon’s Dogma” like climbable giant enemies and A.I.-controlled characters called Pawns that assist the player in combat.

The original “Dragon’s Dogma” was a sleeper hit for Capcom, selling over one million copies worldwide. An enhanced version called “Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen” launched in 2013 and was also praised by critics.

“Dragon’s Dogma Online” had a strong launch in 2015. Over one million people downloaded the game within its first 10 days. originally planned to release it outside of Japan as well, but later changed its mind. In a financial results briefing Q&A in 2017, the publisher said growth in the PC market had slowed and it was instead prioritizing the growth of its consumer and mobile markets. In order to make its online PC business more profitable, it said it was implementing cost control measures while maintaining sales for “Dragon’s Dogma Online” and “Monster Hunter Frontier.”