Key Takeaways
- Nintendo has acquired full ownership of Xenoblade Chronicles developer Monolith Soft, and now holds all 2,400 of the company’s shares.
- Nintendo originally bought 80% of Monolith Soft shares from Bandai Namco in 2007, then raised that stake to over 96% four years later.
- The company purchased the remaining 80 shares held by Monolith Soft co-founders sometime between February and November 2024.
Nintendo has fully acquired Monolith Soft. Not much is expected to change following this move, as the studio has already been a Nintendo subsidiary for the majority of its existence.
Monolith Soft—not to be confused with FEAR and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor developer Monolith Productions—is a Japanese studio specializing in role-playing games. Its headcount amounted to 264 employees in 2023. The company is best known for its Xenosaga and Xenoblade Chronicles titles. The group was co-founded by former SquareSoft designer Tetsuya Takahashi in 1999 and operated as a Namco and later Namco Bandai (nowadays known as Bandai Namco) subsidiary for eight years. Nintendo then acquired a controlling stake in the company in 2007.
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The Switch maker now appears to have raised its stake in Monolith Soft to the point of full ownership. That’s according to Monolith Soft’s official website, which was recently updated to reveal that Nintendo now holds all 2,400 shares in the company, as first reported by Automation West. Prior to this change, co-founders Tetsuya Takahashi and Hirohide Sugiura each had 30 shares, while co-founder Yasuyuki Hanne held 20 shares. Their combined stake in the studio thus amounted to around 3.33%. Back in 2007, Nintendo initially acquired 80% of Monolith Soft, but raised its stake to 96.66% come 2011.
Nintendo Fully Acquired Monolith Soft Without Much Fanfare
It is presently unclear when exactly Nintendo purchased the remaining 80 shares from Monolith Soft’s co-founders. Game Rant’s review of cached web data shows that the Xenoblade Chronicles developer started listing Nintendo as its sole owner sometime between October 1 and November 21, 2024. However, the buyout may have been finalized months earlier. Nintendo was still listed as a partial owner of Monolith Soft in the latter’s latest annual company brochure, published in February 2024.
Timeline of Nintendo’s Stake in Monolith Soft
|
Year |
Shares |
Ownership Percentage |
|---|---|---|
|
2007 |
1,920 |
80% |
|
2011 |
2,320 |
96% |
|
2024 |
2,400 |
100% |
Given that Monolith Soft has been a Nintendo subsidiary for 17 out of 25 years of its existence, this turn of events is unlikely to have a material impact on its day-to-day operations. The studio is currently working on Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, a remaster of its 2015 Wii U JRPG, which is scheduled to release as a Switch exclusive on March 20, 2025.
Aside from its original titles, Monolith Soft has also consistently played a support role on big-budget Nintendo projects. E.g., its Tokyo branch is credited with contributing to The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, while its Kyoto studio assisted in the development of Pikmin 2, Splatoon 3, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Monolith Soft Tokyo 2nd Production Team can also be found in the credits of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, among other first-party Nintendo games.
Sources: Automation West, Monolith Soft (cached)
