Monolith Soft

Monolith Software Inc., trading as Monolith Soft, is a Japanese video game developer based in Tokyo. It is best known for creating the Xeno series. Originally founded in 1999 by Square alumnus Tetsuya Takahashi as a studio under Namco (later Namco Bandai Games), it was bought out by Nintendo in 2007. Their first project was the Xenosaga series, a spiritual successor to the Square-developed Xenogears. With Nintendo, they developed the Xenoblade series in addition to developmental assistance on Nintendo-developed games. Multiple Square alumni would join Takahashi at Monolith Soft, including Hirohide Sugiura and Yasuyuki Honne. In addition to the Xeno series, Monolith Soft worked on other projects including Baten Kaitos and Namco × Capcom, the precursor to their later Project X Zone series, along with assisting on projects from other developers. While several of its games have released on the PlayStation 2, all of its games have released on Nintendo platforms following the acquisition. As of 2022, Monolith Soft operates in three locations in Japan; its main office in Meguro, Tokyo and the secondary Osaki Studio similarly based in Tokyo, who produce the company's original video game properties; and a studio in Kyoto with mainly artists as its employees, which acts as an assisting developer for both Monolith Soft Tokyo and for some Nintendo internal franchises. According to an interview published on the website of the company in February 2022, Monolith Soft's Kyoto studio has over 30 employees, which would leave the Tokyo studios with roughly 230 staff in total. The design approaches of Monolith Soft have shifted over its lifetime, with early games such as Xenosaga and Baten Kaitos being distinguished by a narrative-heavy approach, while later games have focused more on gameplay. The company's stated goals are to create projects with wide creative freedom and to allow younger...