In a recent interview, Monolith Soft founder Tetsuya Takahashi and developer Michihiko Inaba talked about the studio’s new R&D department focusing on developing a new in-house engine. Ideally, it will be used for future Monolith Soft game projects. [Thanks, CGWORLD!]
Aside from heading the studio as one of its directors and overseeing development of new titles, Takahashi has been in charge of the new R&D department for approximately a year as of writing this. Meanwhile, Inaba has been a full-time programmer within Monolith Soft and was in charge of programming the engine for the Xenoblade Chronicles series. After finishing work on Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Inaba became producer and director of the new R&D department.
The objective of the R&D team is to improve the company’s development environment, supporting the development of tools for each section of the studio, and to research and develop new technologies in order to develop an in-house rendering and effects engines for Monolith Soft, as well as research and development on animation.
The long-term goal of the new R&D team is to integrate the various developed technologies in the in-house engine so that it can be used in other Monolith Soft titles moving forward. However, since many staff members are currently in the title development section, the R&D team is jointly supporting the developers by creating new assets and effects as needed.
The in-house engine they are currently developing was originally made for Xenoblade Chronicles, released in 2010, and is still being expanded upon. Since the new R&D team has only existed for about a year, the Monolith Soft developers are planning to gradually transition to the new structure over the course of the next 3 years.
Published: Oct 7, 2024 03:30 pm