It appears Nintendo is now the sole owner of Monolith Soft, the studio behind the Xenoblade series. The company’s profile page has been updated to reflect this change. The company’s total shares is 2,400 and the sole shareholder is listed as Nintendo Co., Ltd with 100% investment.
Monolith Soft was founded in 1999 by Hirohide Sugiura, Tetsuya Takahashi, and Yasuyuki Honne with an investment from Namco (now Bandai Namco). According to Automaton Media, the founders still owned around 4% of the company’s shares as of March 2024 when the last company brochure was published.
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At that time, it was revealed that Nintendo owned 2,320 shares while Suguira owned 30, Takahashi, 30, and Honne, 20. Nintendo first bought 80% of Monolith Soft’s shares in 2007. In 2011, they increased their stake in the company to 96%.
It is not clear when Nintendo acquired the remaining 4% of Monolith Soft’s shares. However, judging from the last company brochure, the change likely happened after March 2024. As of October 2024, Wayback Machine still showed that Nintendo only owned 96% of the company’s shares. While the company has its headquarters in Tokyo, it also has offices in Osaka and Kyoto.
Monolith Soft was first created to work on Xenosaga, a spiritual successor to Xenogears. In the past fifteen years, Monolith has focused on the Xenoblade franchise. The studio also provided developmental support to Nintendo on several games including The Legend of Zelda series as well as Splatoon and Animal Crossing games.
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, a port of the 2015 Wii U spin-off is expected to land on Switch on March 20, 2025. The game will feature enhanced visuals, expanded story elements, and more, as per a report from Nintendo.
What’s your thought on the full acquisition of Monolith by Nintendo? GameBaba Universe would love to hear from you.
