Dragon Quest Smash/Grow surpasses $34m in three months

• Dragon Quest Smash/Grow has made $34.4 million in its first three months.
• Japan has contributed the majority of spending, followed by Taiwan and the US.

Square Enix’s latest mobile Dragon Quest game Dragon Quest Smash/Grow has generated $34.4 million in gross player spending during its first three months.

The title launched globally on April 20th, 2026 and over its first quarter-year, the vast majority of revenue has come from players in Japan. The market contributed $30.8m of the total sum over the three months, accounting for 90% of global earnings.

Taiwan has ranked second at $1.3m in spending or 4%, followed by the US at $973,000 or 3%.

The game also monetises through in-game ads and an external web shop, meaning total earnings thus far are likely even higher.

Money by month

Dragon Quest Smash/Grow is a roguelite RPG rewarding adaptability. Each time players advance through dungeons and face down hordes of monsters, tactics change and characters power up with random Blessings. Attack, defence and healing crystals might drop from enemies, unlocking various combinations of abilities every run.

Character classes also vary with RPG classics like thief, mage and warrior available.

The game monetises through a weapons-based gacha model, with in-app purchases and bundles granting Gems for premium pulls. Spending started low at just $58,000 on April 20th, but quickly surged more than 10 times over to $668,000 on the 21st.

Daily spending peaked on April 28th at more than $1.4m, but hasn’t surpassed $1m again since the 29th.

In fact, monthly earnings have roughly halved every month since release, from $19.4m in month one to $9.4m in month two. Player spending fell further to just $5.6m in Dragon Quest Smash/Grow’s third month.

This decline has come despite ongoing updates introducing new story content and incremental version updates. Version 1.2 was released on July 7th, coinciding with a spending surge of 565% over the day prior and making $633,000.

Portfolio prowess

The game also has decades of material to work with - the Dragon Quest IP dating back to the 1980s with plenty of titles in its library. Smash/Grow is currently running an event based around Dragon Quest VI.

Dragon Quest Smash/Grow’s early success has come while fellow Square Enix title Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis winds down, ending service after three years on October 6th.

This title made $43.4m on mobile in its first three months - slightly ahead of Dragon Quest Smash/Grow’s initial performance - but soon declined in player spending, going on to make $143.9m over its lifetime to date.

Meanwhile, 2019's Dragon Quest Walk marks Square Enix's most successful mobile game, having generated over $2 billion between the major app stores.

Read more about Dragon Quest Smash/Grow on our sister site, PocketGamer.com.