If our hopes of some Monolith Soft Switch 2 goodness weren’t already high enough, today, they reached a new peak as we learned that the team has added a fresh cutscene director to its ranks with a pretty beefy portfolio to his name.
As brought to our attention by Stealth40K on BlueSky, the Nintendo-owned studio signed Daisuke Honda to its freelance staff late last year. One glance at the cutscene director’s LinkedIn page reveals names like Square Enix and NetEase games, having previously worked on the likes of Final Fantasy XVI, VII Remake, Kingdom Hearts III and Visions of Mana.
In short, this is a dev who knows his stuff — particularly in the realm of PS4/5-era RPGs — though his LinkedIn page provides no further details about what he’s been working on with the Xenoblade studio for the past five months. So, the question remains: what has Monolith Soft been cooking up with this Final Fantasy alumnus in tow?
With Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition primed and ready for release on 20th March, we’d have to assume that Monolith Soft is full steam ahead on Switch 2 development. Another Xenoblade entry could be on the cards, for sure, but we haven’t forgotten that the studio was hiring for a mysterious “new RPG” last year, for which someone of Honda’s talents would appear to be a good fit.
Then we need to consider all of the support work that Monolith has provided Nintendo over the Switch generation. Sure, the Xenoblade series has thrived on Switch, but this is the same team that assisted with development on the likes of Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Splatoon 3 and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. With Nintendo now in complete control of the studio, we have to imagine that Monolith’s talents will be called upon even more for future first-party releases.
The Honda signing is just another slice of excitement as we edge ever closer to the 2nd April Switch 2 Direct and, hopefully, a closer look at the upcoming console’s game lineup. A Monolith Soft appearance feels like a dead cert, but we’ll just have to wait and see what form its next project will take.
