As we talked about multiple times this year, including last week, Monolith Soft has officially turned 25. The company has been developing a wide range of RPG franchises over the years, and that’s why it’s such a beloved game developer, especially since it found its “new stride” on the Nintendo line of platforms via the Xenoblade Chronicles saga. The titles were so important that when the team dropped a special 25th-anniversary trailer last week, they made sure that all the protags from that franchise were together while also being surrounded by the other games the team has made. However, the company’s CEO has said that they “haven’t made their best stuff yet,” which is proven in their new expansion.
Specifically, in a chat with CG World, game director Tetsuya Takahashi noted that Monolith Soft has gotten an R&D Division that would be used to grow itself in special ways and even expand the in-house engine that they’ve used for its last four games. He also explained why it took so long for them to get that department:
“Publishers can easily hire dedicated personnel and take on R&D as a company asset, but in our case, since title development is our main focus, we didn’t have much manpower to invest in the future. When we were developing Xenoblade Chronicles 2, we only had a few dozen in-house programmers, and we were overwhelmed with development alone. We were not in a position to organize an R&D team.”
The thing that changed and allowed them to get this new R&D team was that its newest saga was successful enough to reach millions of gamers all over the world. Plus, its games have gotten even bigger over time, so it needs to be able to match the needs of game development by advancing itself and the game engine it uses.
If you’re wondering why they don’t grab something like Unreal Engine 5, Takahashi talked about that, too. He noted that it’s “easier” for them to use the engine they have, as they can customize it to their personal needs over time, which is something that other developers and publishers have done.
Of course, with the idea that the team is expanding, many will likely state that this is all so that they can harness the full power of the Nintendo Switch 2 when it releases. After all, while the team was able to make great RPGs, they were constrained by the power of the Switch. So, being able to go even further with its engine could make its next titles shine even further.
