In the last three decades, the video game industry has emerged as a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide.  Iconic games such as Pacman and Super Mario played key roles in helping the video game industry grow and as it did, more genres began to emerge.  The role-playing video game genre is one of the most popular amongst consumers today and, like so many other video game genres, the success of role-playing video games today can be traced back to a groundbreaking game in the past.

On this day, May 27th, in 1986, Dragon Quest was released in Japan, marking the birth of the modern role playing video game genre.  The game was released on the NES platform and sold 1.5 million copies in Japan by the end of 1986.  The Dragon Quest franchise adopted the name, Dragon Warrior in the United States, but was also successful. Dragon Quest became the template for the role playing video game genre by featuring an emphasis on skill and individual customization.

Dragon Quest is one of the most successful video game franchises in history with a total of 9 titles released on numerous platforms.  To date, the Dragon Quest franchise has shipped more than 57 million units worldwide.