Leaks have hinted atXenoblade Chronicles 3drawing near for some time now, and the game has officially been revealed.Xenoblade Chroniclesfans watching the latest Nintendo Direct were treated to an elaborate trailer for the next installation in the franchise. Monolith Soft’sXenoblademay not be the oldest RPG franchise on the market, but it’s definitely well-loved by fans, as well as Nintendo itself; a new franchise entry provides yet another opportunity forXenobladeto grow. Perhaps best of all,Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s reveal trailer came with a release window. Fans will only have to wait a few months for the franchise’s latest game.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s announcementshows that Monolith Soft has a steady franchise on its hands, but it’s also only the latest of Monolith Soft’s many contributions to the Nintendo Switch. Five years after the Nintendo Switch debuted, Monolith Soft has risen to be quite the core developer for the Switch, both through its work on theXenobladefranchise and its assistance with other Nintendo games. To an extent, that’s to be expected from a Nintendo subsidiary, but it’s worth acknowledging that Monolith Soft has helped make some of the Switch’s best games while continuing to make an acclaimed RPG franchise on its own time.
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Monolith Soft’s Switch Contributions
While theXenobladefranchise got its start on the Nintendo Wii, it has really found its stride on the Switch. The franchise first gotXenoblade Chronicles 2during the Switch’s first year of life, and a few years later, Monolith Soft releasedXenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition,a remaster of the original game for the Switch. WhileXenoblade Chronicles Xhasn’t come to the Switchfrom the Wii U yet, strong support for the franchise and the advent ofXenoblade 3preserve hope thatXenoblade Xwill be reunited with its cousins in the future.
Xenobladeisn’t all that Monolith Soft has to offer the Switch, though. On the contrary, it’s been a collaborator on some of Nintendo’s top games. For instance, in developingThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,Nintendo wanted to ensure that it had a huge, detailed open world that felt good to explore. With that goal in mind, it collaborated with Monolith Soft onBreath of the Wild’s map design, since Monolith has tons of valuable experience due toXenoblade’s open-world model. Monolith has made contributions toAnimal Crossing: New HorizonsandSplatoon 2,both of which are big hits on the Switch.
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A Core Part of the Switch
There are certainly plenty of significant Switch games that have nothing to do with Monolith Soft, fromSuper Mario OdysseytoPokemon Legends: Arceus,but even so, it’s remarkable just how much influence Monolith Soft has had on the past.Breath of the Wildis one of Nintendo’s most successful games in recent history, andAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsis similarly a beloved, creative newAnimal Crossingtitle. Monolith Soft has really earned its keep as a Nintendo subsidiary so far by assisting with games like these.
There was never really any doubt that Monolith Soft has a bright future ahead of it as a Nintendo partner, butXenoblade 3and its pattern of collaborating on other Nintendo games certainly drive the point home. Aside from having a lot of enthusiasm for theXenobladefranchise, as indicated byPyra and Mythra’s arrival inSmash Ultimate,Nintendo clearly values it as a resource when making its own games. The Switch has been good to Monolith Soft, and it may yet be a platform for more solid Monolith games since Nintendo says that the Switch has more years of life ahead of it. Hopefully,XenobladeChroniclescontinues to be a mainstay in the Nintendo game library.
