Square Enix has announced it’s partnering with Google to add an AI chat bot character to its Dragon Quest MMO.
Announced during a press event this weekend, Dragon Quest X will use Google’s Gemini to power a “conversational AI” companion called Chatty Slimey, who will help guide lost players.
Speaking to Japanese publication Sankei, head of development, Takashi Anzai, said: “New players won’t feel lonely wondering where to start playing; it will become their own personal companion.”
The publication said: “When a player talks to Slimey using the chat function, it automatically generates voices and engages in conversation. The AI also analyzes information from the game screen, and Slimey may even initiate conversations when a powerful enemy is defeated or a rare item is obtained.”
Dragon Quest X is a Japan-only MMO that was released in 2012 for PC and PS4, followed later by Nintendo Switch.
It’s not the first time an MMO has added an AI chat bot: Wuxia’s Where Winds Meet features the technology, and has resulted in obscene manipulation from some players. Fortnite faced similar challenges when it added a Darth Vader chat bot, which was quickly reported to be saying swear words and slurs to players.
Square Enix said in its November 2025 financial results that it aims to have the majority of its QA and debugging work handled by generative AI within the next two years.
The Final Fantasy publisher has launched a partnership with the Matsuo-Iwasawa Laboratory at the University of Tokyo which is “aimed at improving the efficiency of game development processes through AI technologies”.
