Game designer Yuji Horii has confirmed that the next mainline Dragon Quest installment, Dragon Quest 12, is "still a ways away." 

Horii took to Twitter to share the news on New Year's Day.  He couldn't divulge a lot of details in the accompanying statement but said there might be "something we can announce" sometime in the future.  The statement, translated by Siliconera, says Horii is grateful to the fans who support the franchise and the staff who support his vision.  You can read Horii's full statement below. 

"Last year we started with publishing the movie Dragon Quest: Your Story, then releasing the Switch version of Dragon Quest 11, the mobile version of DQ Walk, the announcement of The Adventure of Dai anime along with its game adaptation, the production of [DQ]12 and more; even now after 33 years have passed since I made the 1st game, I feel very glad that I can do new challenges like these.  Thank you very much to all users who have cheered on Dragon Quest until now, and also to all of the many staff members who have supported me.  I don't know how long I can go on, but I feel like I want to do my best just a little bit more.  I hope this year will be an amazing year to everyone.  I'm looking forward to work together in this year." 

The last Dragon Quest entry, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age, was released in 2018 for the Nintendo 3DS, PC, and PlayStation 4.  An enhanced edition of the game launched on Nintendo Switch in September 2019.  We gave the title a 9/10 in our review, saying, "Once you find yourself sucked into the world of Dragon Quest XI, it's going to be hard to put down until you reach the grand finale."