The Xenoblade Chronicles series developer Monolith Soft is now fully owned by Nintendo, as the Japanese company has reportedly purchased the remaining shares of the company it did not previously own.\
As reported by Automaton, the development studio's official website confirmed that now Nintendo is the only owner. The studio, which was founded in 1999 by Xenogears' creator Tetsuya Takahashi after he left SquareSoft, started a prolific partnership with Nintendo with the release of Xenoblade Chronicles on the original Wii, which led to Nintendo eventually purchasing 80% of Monolith shares from Namco in 2007, which were further increased to 96% in 2011. The remaining 4% shares were owned by founders Hirohide Sugiura, Tetsuya Takahashi, and Yasuyuki Honne.
Given that Nintendo already owned the Xenoblade Chronicles developer, today's news shouldn't really impact the developer in any major capacity. Besides working on their franchise, Monolith Soft also supported the development of other Nintendo games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, so the studio has been an integral part of the development process for many first-party Nintendo titles for some time.
Monolith Soft's next game will be Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, a new version of the open-world role-playing game originally released on Wii U in 2015. Launching on March 20th, 2025, the new version of the game will come with updated visuals as well as an alternate version of the post-credit scene featuring a mysterious hooded figure, which could finally tie the game with the rest of the series.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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