Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World release date: Dec. 3, 2026, at $59.99, with a free demo

Square Enix’s next monster-taming adventure lands in early December, and the free demo is already out. Here’s when Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World comes out, what each edition costs and how the demo works.

When does Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World come out?

On Thursday, Dec. 3, 2026, on Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X and S and PC through Steam and Windows. The Digital Deluxe Edition includes 48 hours of early access, and the Nintendo eShop and the Xbox store list it for Dec. 1. Square Enix first revealed the game during its Dragon Quest Day celebration in May 2026 and announced the date in the Nintendo Direct of June 9, 2026.

Price, editions and bonuses

The standard edition costs $59.99 on the Nintendo eShop, the Xbox store and Steam, and the Square Enix Store sells physical copies for Switch 2, Switch and PS5 from $59.99. The Switch 2 and Switch versions are separate products, and the eShop estimates the download at about 12 GB on Switch 2 and about 7 GB on Switch.

The Digital Deluxe Edition costs $94.99. It adds a DLC set with The Mega Mole Hole, Monster Marathons, the Metallic Ring and the Scout Run VIP Card, plus the Way of the Wrangler bonus with a Necklace of Animation, 10 Beastie Bites and 10 Seeds of Skill, along with the early access.

Anyone who buys the game or the Deluxe Edition by Jan. 4, 2027, at 11:59 p.m. gets the Adventure Starter Set: 10 Monster Munchies, three Bonus Balls and five Seeds of Skill. Digital copies also come with the Hearty Meat Set, with five each of Monster Munchies, Smoked Sirloins and Meaty Treats for scouting monsters.

The Collector’s Edition

The Collector’s Edition costs $219.99 on the Square Enix Store, in limited quantities. It includes the physical standard game for Switch 2, Switch or PS5, a Digital Deluxe upgrade code sent by email and four collector’s items: figurines of the heroines Bianca, Nera and Debora in their younger days, a flocked figurine set of the companions Fluffy, Scruffy and Fizzy, a round, squishy pouch shaped like a Slime with meat and a cleaning cloth with a monster pattern. There’s no collector’s box, and everything ships together.

The free demo

A free demo came out on Sept. 9, 2026, on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X and S, Steam and Xbox on PC. It covers the first chapter and introduces the cast, battles, monster synthesis and exploration. Up to eight monsters recruited in the demo can move to the full game, where they’re waiting in the depot at level 1 with their default talents.

Story, monsters and online battles

You follow two young monster wranglers, Bianca and Nera, on a journey to bring the world of Witherwood back to life. Square Enix promises more than 500 new and fan-favorite monsters, and no experience with earlier Dragon Quest Monsters games is needed. Each monster has its own traits and can learn talents, and synthesis combines two monsters into a stronger one, sometimes a creature you’ve never seen. Your monsters follow you around the world, whatever their type or size.

Online features let you battle other wranglers around the world, from serious tournaments with prizes to friendly matches, and Steam lists cross-platform multiplayer. On Switch and Switch 2, online play needs a Nintendo Switch Online membership.

Rating, PC requirements and who makes it

The ESRB rates the game E10+, for Fantasy Violence, Mild Language and Alcohol Reference. It has English and Japanese voices, and Steam lists text in nine languages. On PC, Steam lists Windows 11, an AMD Ryzen 3 2300X or Intel Core i3-8100, 8 GB of memory, a GeForce GTX 1660, Radeon RX 470 or Intel Arc A380 with 6 GB of video memory and 40 GB of storage as the minimum. TOSE develops the game with Square Enix, which publishes it.

If you’re waiting for the next main game, our Dragon Quest 12 release date page has what Square Enix has said about Beyond Dreams. For the rest of December, see our upcoming Switch 2 games list.

This page is updated as soon as Square Enix announces a launch time, new DLC or patch notes for Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World.