Monolith Soft, the developer behind Baten Kaitos and Xenoblade Chronicles 2, has opened a new studio in Iidabashi, a neighborhood in the district of Chiyoda in Tokyo. The news comes via the Twitter account of Yasuyuki Honne, an artist and board member of Monolith Soft, who joined the company back in 1999. Thanks to Nintendo Everything for spotting the news.
Honne tweeted that the new Iidabashi studio started running this month, with the hashtag Monolith Soft.
This new studio joins Monolith’s two others studios, the main branch in Tokyo where big projects are generally produced, and the other branch in Kyoto that usually assists with the development of Nintendo titles, like Breath of the Wild. In 2007 Nintendo became a majority shareholder of Monolith, and since then the company has gone on to develop the Xenoblade Chronicles series and two Project X Zone games. At this point, it’s unknown what role or purpose the new studio will serve.
Monoliths most recent game, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, released on the Nintendo Switch in December 2017, and has since sold over 1.3 million copies. A story expansion is planned for the game, and E3 2018 could see some fresh details arrive on it.
What would you like to see from the new studio? A Xenosaga remake, a new Baten Kaitos, or something else entirely? Leave a comment below and let us know.