A Brief History
Founded on October 1st, 1999 by former Square staff Tetsuya Takahashi, Yasuyuki Honne, and Hiroyuki Sugiura with the support of Namco founder Masaya Nakamura, Monolith Soft began its life as a Namco subsidiary best known for the Xenosaga series on the PlayStation 2 and the Baten Kaitos series on the Nintendo GameCube.
In April 2007, Nintendo became the majority shareholder for Monolith Soft at 80% while the now merged Bandai Namco retained 16% of the shares. Some of Monolith Soft's earliest titles following this change were Soma Bringer on the Nintendo DS and Disaster: Day of Crisis on the Nintendo Wii.
On June 10, 2010 in Japan, Monolith Soft released Xenoblade Chronicles on the Nintendo Wii. What might have seemed like another standalone project from Monolith Soft at the time eventually went on to become the studio's signature franchise during their era at Nintendo. In 2011, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword released. This was the first entry in the Legend of Zelda series that Monolith Soft assisted on, which has continued in the years since. Monolith Soft's Kyoto studio also opened in 2011.
By early 2012, Nintendo had purchased Namco's remaining shares at Monolith Soft, though until 2016 Monolith Soft occasionally worked on Namco published projects like the Project X Zone series for the Nintendo 3DS.
In October 2018, it became publicly known that Monolith Soft's Tokyo studio had been officially split into multiple production divisions when a mass-recruitment page for Production Division 1 went live. The recruitment page was removed in February 2022 but some information from the page is still available on Gematsu and XenoMira. In March 2019, a mass-recruitment page for Production Division 2 went live.
As of December 2022, Monolith Soft has 264 staff in total. According to an interview published on the website in February 2022, Monolith Soft's Kyoto studio has over 30 employees, which would leave the Tokyo studio with roughly 240 staff in total.
Monolith Soft Tokyo - Production Division 1
Production Division 1 is headed by Tetsuya Takahashi. Its members consist of the Monolith Soft Tokyo staff that have worked on Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Staff in this group previously worked on Xenoblade Chronicles X, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and Xenoblade Chronicles. Takahashi stated in a 2020 Famitsu interview that Production Division 1 began work on both Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (referred to as a new project) and Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition after the completion of Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country.
The staff of Production Division 1 has worked on:
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed (Nintendo Switch, 2023)
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Nintendo Switch, 2022)
- Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (Nintendo Switch, 2020)
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country (Nintendo Switch, 2018)
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Nintendo Switch, 2017)
- Xenoblade Chronicles X (Nintendo Wii U, 2015)
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo Wii, 2011)
- Xenoblade Chronicles (Nintendo Wii, 2010)
According to Gematsu's translation, the list of positions when the October 2018 recruitment page for Production Division 1 went live was the following:
Programmers
- Graphics Programmer
- Character Control Programmer
- AI Programmer
Planners
- Level Designer
Technical Artists
- Modeling TA
- Animation TA
- Effects TA
Designers
- Map Modeler
- In-Game Animator
- Character Modeler
- Character Designer (Artwork Staff)
- Script Event Creator
Management and Support Staff
- Production Assistant
- Event Production Management
Monolith Soft Tokyo - Production Division 2
Production Division 2 has less public information at the moment, but its core members likely consist of the Monolith Soft Tokyo staff that assisted on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Staff in this group previously worked on Xenoblade Chronicles X, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and Xenoblade Chronicles. The division likely also consists of newer staff that were recruited following the completion of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
The staff of Production Division 2 has likely worked on:
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo Switch, 2023)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Expansion Pass (Nintendo Switch, 2017)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo Switch, 2017)
- Xenoblade Chronicles X (Nintendo Wii U, 2015)
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo Wii, 2011)
- Xenoblade Chronicles (Nintendo Wii, 2010)
According to Gematsu's translation, the list of positions when the March 2019 recruitment page for Production Division 2 went live includes technical artists, programmers, planners, designers, and a project manager.
Monolith Soft Kyoto
Founded in 2011, Monolith Soft's Kyoto studio has assisted in projects worked on by the Tokyo studio like the Xenoblade Chronicles series, as well as internal Nintendo projects the Tokyo studio was not involved with such as the Splatoon series, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and recent entries in the Animal Crossing series. The staff at the Kyoto Studio is mainly focused on artwork and asset creation. Though unconfirmed, they are likely assisting on the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Expansion Pass, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and updates to Splatoon 3. The Kyoto studio has over 30 employees going by a comment in a February 2022 interview.
In addition to working on Monolith Soft Tokyo projects, the staff of Monolith Soft Kyoto has worked on:
- Splatoon 3 (Nintendo Switch, 2022)
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 (Nintendo Switch, 2021)
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo Switch, 2020)
- Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion (Nintendo Switch, 2018)
- Splatoon 2 (Nintendo Switch, 2017)
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome Amiibo (Nintendo 3DS, 2016)
- Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (Nintendo 3DS, 2015)
- Splatoon (Nintendo Wii U, 2015)
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo 3DS, 2013)
- Pikmin 3 (Nintendo Wii U, 2013)
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo 3DS, 2012)
The Mysterious Recruitment Page - What We Know
In August 2017, Monolith Soft posted a mass-recruitment page for their Tokyo studio. According to Gematsu's translation, Monolith Soft was looking for designers, programmers, planners, and management support. In particular, they were seeking staff who had experience with action games. When the recruitment page first went live, the positions were said to be for “an ambitious project different from the brand image of Monolith Soft.” This line was removed from the recruitment page later on, but the rest of the recruitment page is still up on Monolith Soft's website. The recruitment page predates any official mention of Production Divsion 1 or Production Division 2. It only mentioned that the positions were for Monolith Soft's Tokyo studio.
According to Gematsu's translation, the list of positions when the recruitment page went live is as follows:
Designers
- Character Modeler
- Map Modeler
- In-Game Animator
- Technical Artist
- Main Character Designer
- Concept Art Designer
Programmers
- Character Control Programmer (Action Part)
- System / Framework Programmer
Planners
- Planner (Action Part)
Management Support
- Project Manager
Legacy
This is the full history of completed projects Monolith Soft has worked on:
2023:
2022:
2021:
2020:
2018:
2017:
2015:
2013:
2011:
2010:
2009:
2008:
2006:
2005:
2004:
2003:
2002:
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Support Developer - Nintendo Switch)
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed (Primary Developer - Nintendo Switch)
2022:
- Splatoon 3 (Support Developer – Nintendo Switch)
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Primary Developer - Nintendo Switch)
2021:
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 (Support Developer - Nintendo Switch)
2020:
- Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (Primary Developer - Nintendo Switch)
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Support Developer - Nintendo Switch)
2018:
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country (Primary Developer - Nintendo Switch)
- Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion (Support Developer - Nintendo Switch)
2017:
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Expansion Pass (Support Developer - Nintendo Switch)
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Primary Developer - Nintendo Switch)
- Splatoon 2 (Support Developer - Nintendo Switch)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Support Developer - Nintendo Switch)
2015:
- Project X Zone 2 (Primary Developer - Nintendo 3DS)
- Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (Support Developer - Nintendo 3DS)
- Splatoon (Support Developer - Nintendo Wii U)
- Xenoblade Chronicles X (Primary Developer - Nintendo Wii U)
2013:
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Support Developer - Nintendo 3DS)
- Pikmin 3 (Support Developer - Nintendo Wii U)
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Support Developer - Nintendo 3DS)
- Project X Zone (Primary Developer - Nintendo 3DS)
2011:
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Support Developer - Nintendo Wii)
2010:
- Xenoblade Chronicles (Primary Developer - Nintendo Wii)
- Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier Exceed (Primary Developer - Nintendo DS)
2009:
- Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans (Primary Developer - Nintendo DS)
2008:
- Disaster: Day of Crisis (Primary Developer - Nintendo Wii)
- Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier (Primary Developer - Nintendo DS)
- Soma Bringer (Primary Developer - Nintendo DS)
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Support Developer - Nintendo Wii)
2006:
- Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra (Primary Developer - PlayStation 2)
- Xenosaga I & II (Primary Developer - Nintendo DS)
- Baten Kaitos Origins (Primary Developer - Nintendo GameCube)
- Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (Support Developer - PlayStation 2)
2005:
- Namco x Capcom (Primary Developer - PlayStation 2)
2004:
- Xenosaga: Pied Piper (Primary Developer - Mobile)
- Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse (Primary Developer - PlayStation 2)
- Xenosaga Freaks (Primary Developer - Playstation 2)
2003:
- Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (Primary Developer - Nintendo GameCube)
- Xenosaga Episode I: Reloaded (Primary Developer - Playstation 2)
2002:
- Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht (Primary Developer - Playstation 2)
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