Monolith Soft Is Expanding Its In-House Xenoblade Game Engine For Future Titles

Image: Gemma Smith / Nintendo Life

Monolith Soft, the studio behind the Xenoblade Chronicles series, is expanding its in-house engine for use on future titles thanks to its newly-founded R&D department (thanks, Automaton).

That is according to the company’s Chief Creative Officer Tetsuya Takahashi and lead programmer Michihiko Inaba, who, in a recent interview with Japanese outlet CGworld, spoke about the company's plans for the future as it plans to tackle bigger development projects.

According to Inaba, the currently in-development engine is based on the one the company created for 2010's Xenoblade Chronicles, with the goal being to one day have it fully managed by the internal R&D team. For the time being, several different development teams are working on the engine's modelling and effect technologies before all are compiled into the finished product.

Despite the difficulties of maintaining an engine in-house, Takahashi believes it will all be worthwhile: "We don't currently have the option of using engines made by other companies," he told CGworld, "This is because in-house engines are easier to customise to suit our needs and are easier to use".

According to Takahashi, Monolith Soft has wanted an internal R&D department for years, though it had too few employees to make it happen without detracting from the development team. That was until the company started working with Nintendo, "as the scale of development became larger, the level of demands for development also increased".

These increasing demands lead to an increased workforce and, in turn, room for an R&D team. The new department (helmed by Inaba) aims to streamline the development process, support tool development, and research/develop new technologies, all of which seem like solid choices as the company looks to future titles.

As for what the company's future holds, we're just going to have to wait and see. We were blown away by Xenoblade Chronicles 3 when it landed on Switch in 2022, so we'd hope that the team is cooking something up for 'Switch 2' (though that is yet to be confirmed, of course). All eyes on this swanky new engine then, eh?