Nintendo is now the sole owner of Monolith Soft, the studio behind the Xenoblade Chronicles series, as of late 2024. While Nintendo had already held a controlling interest in Monolith Soft since acquiring 80% of its shares in 2007, and later increasing that to 96% in 2011 by purchasing Bandai Namco’s remaining shares, this recent development comes from Nintendo acquiring the remaining 4% of shares owned by Monolith Soft’s founders—Tetsuya Takahashi, Yasuyuki Honne, and Hirohide Sugiura. This makes Nintendo the 100% owner of the studio.

Monolith Soft has been a key contributor to Nintendo’s game library and development efforts, not only with its Xenoblade Chronicles series but also by assisting on major Nintendo titles like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The studio has grown significantly under Nintendo’s ownership, expanding its workforce and even establishing an R&D division to enhance its in-house game engine for future projects. With this full acquisition, Monolith Soft is now firmly positioned as one of Nintendo’s most valuable first-party studios.

This move further solidifies Monolith Soft’s future as an exclusive developer for Nintendo platforms, ensuring that its innovative RPGs and contributions to other Nintendo franchises remain integral to the company’s strategy. Fans are now eagerly speculating about what’s next for Monolith Soft, with rumors of new projects like a potential Xenoblade Chronicles X remaster or entirely new IPs in development.