Xbox Honors Akira Toriyama With A Nod To Blue Dragon

Xbox has released a dynamic dashboard background of 2006's Blue Dragon to honor the recent passing of Akira Toriyama.

The dashboard background features artwork much like that from the game's original cover, with protagonist Shu and his Blue Dragon shadow. Toriyama worked on Blue Dragon's artwork along with Yoshihito Takahashi. It was the debut game from Mistwalker, co-developed by Artoon.

Toriyama passed away earlier this month from a brain condition at the age of 68. He was one of the most influential artists in the world and was the creator of popular franchises such as Dragon Ball, Dr. Slump, and Sand Land. He also worked on other video games such as Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger.

Blue Dragon was first released in 2006 in Japan and worldwide in 2007 for Xbox 360. It is also available to play on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S through backward compatibility. The Blue Dragon series received two more games, Blue Dragon Plus and Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow, but for the Nintendo DS.

One of last projects Toriyama was involved in before his passing is a Sand Land, an RPG based on the manga of the same name. It will launch on April 26 for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.