The Legend of Zelda Franchise GM Wants Monolith Soft to “Create a Unique Title in the Series”

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Monolith Soft is a game development studio famous for its technical skill, particularly in creating expansive open-world games on consoles with limited processing power. They’ve developed several popular titles, including the Xenoblade Chronicles RPG series, and have been a key partner on major Nintendo games like The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kingdom. Recently, Daiki Iwamoto, Nintendo’s general manager for The Legend of Zelda series, spoke with Yasuhiro Fujita, an animator and director at Monolith Soft, in a new interview on the studio’s website, discussing their collaborative work.

During the interview, Iwamoto mentioned a desire to collaborate with Monolith Soft on a future Zelda game. He highlighted their strong partnership in developing Zelda titles and suggested leveraging their combined experience to create something new and unique within the series.

Iwamoto stated that Monolith Soft is a valuable development partner for new Zelda games, and he hopes they will play an increasingly important role in future productions. He expressed a desire to leverage the knowledge and skills gained through their collaboration to create a distinctive Zelda title together.

Although it’s not a sure thing, it’s very likely that Nintendo and Monolith Soft are already collaborating on a new Legend of Zelda game, even though details haven’t been officially announced.

Fujita also talked about Monolith Soft’s involvement with the Zelda series and how their contributions have changed since they worked on Skyward Sword.

According to Fujita, Monolith Soft now has a bigger team and a different working relationship with Nintendo. While they primarily built assets based on Nintendo’s designs for Skyward Sword, with Breath of the Wild, they collaborated more as partners, contributing to the game’s ideas and creation process.

Monolith Soft had a long-standing relationship with Nintendo, and by 2011, Nintendo already owned 96% of the studio. In December 2024, Nintendo completed the acquisition, becoming the full owner of Monolith Soft. Although Nintendo was already the major stakeholder, full ownership likely gives Monolith Soft greater access to Nintendo’s resources and support systems.

Last June, Monolith Soft announced they weren’t only focused on the Xenoblade Chronicles and The Legend of Zelda series. They also helped develop Mario Kart World, a launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2. The studio confirmed Nintendo hired them to create the open world environment and design the characters for the kart racing game, though specific details were limited.

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2025-12-16 18:41