Xenoblade Studio Monolith Soft Is Hiring Staff For The Legend Of Zelda Series

Can’t wait for 2022

Maybe it means BOTW will get a Majoraesque sequel on Switch.

Monolith Soft's involvement on anything makes me excited. I can't wait to see their next game and seeing how they're hiring for a Zelda sequel it seems Nintendo wants to follow up on the open world template that they set up for the series.

I really hope they invest a little more time and writing into the story of the game, though. That was the one small gripe I and many others had with Breath of the Wild.

This doesn't mean we have to wait another 5 years from now for a new Zelda game, right? Nintendo are running out of games in the series they can remake to fill the gap.

Monolith Soft means the next game is gonna be good!

The next 3D Zelda has been in development for quite some time.

It is scheduled for a 2020 release, though knowing Zelda, it could be delayed into 2021.

@Varkster They'll have to remake Breath of the Wild soon!

Veeery good. I just hope it will be the same game style of BOTW, but possibly without all that loneliness feeling and with a richer story...

@westman98 How do you know it's scheduled for 2020? I've always wondered if it would be, but seeing as there is no reveal yet, there is also no date set?

They should take the OoT route and do some sort of spin-off, sequel game...

I would have put up with another game set in the BOTW Hyrule, perhaps a sequel where you have to help Zelda rebuild Castle Town.

Awesome to hear! Monolith Soft has proven themselves as both a quality second party developer and as a valuable support developer for Nintendo's in house team time and time again, so their continued involvement can only be a good thing. Whenever the next game actually arrives is anybody's guess really. Next year or 3 years from now, who knows.

I'm hoping for a Majora-esque sequel. Same engine but different tone and assets.

I reckon we'll be playing the next 3D Zelda by the end of 2020 along with a new 3D Mario. Metroid will be 2021.

If this is a Majora Mask type game, then since it will be reusing assets we may get a trailer for it by next years E3. But even if it's a completely brand new game we should be getting a teaser trailer around 2020.

I can't help but think they're trying to avoid another situation where their invovlement with botw negatively impacted the development of Xenoblade 2

Switch pro confirmed

Legend of Zelda Chronicles - Hyrule, the Golden Country finally confirmed!

Hmmm - If it’s a sequel to BOTW or a core, main series Zelda title, I hope it’s Nintendo EAD steering the ship in terms of design and especially puzzles and Monolith providing perhaps just some of the assets and general grunt work. I definitely would feel uncomfortable if N we’re to get in the habit of passing core Zelda titles wholly onto second party developers.

If Monolith's involvement points towards more soft-sculpted blobby looking hills and fields, with crossfading material textures, then I'm no so terribly excited.

The the mention of programmers hired specifically for Zelda has me hopeful that they're more ambitious with whatever it is, they're up to. Who knows, maybe they've been given leash to make a spin-off or side story entirely on their own.

Now I'm hoping for a Xenogears style rpg

Yeah, I'm excited!

@Matthew010 He’s talking out of his ass. Nothing indicates that the next 3D Zelda will come out in 2020.

2021/2022 is a lot more reasonable.

Great news. And I love Open World!

As long as they remove the pudding weapons, or give the weapon durability system a serious overhaul..

Team Ninja could be announcing a Ninja Gaiden vs TLoZ vs Other M game, and I'd be slightly more interested than in a clone of BotW.
I can't get the least bit excited until I know it won't be as tedious as BotW

Links crossbow training 2!

@Rodan2000 DAY WON

I'd guess 2021 will be when we start to see sequels to 2017's games (except Mario Kart, there's no need for a Mario Kart 9 to exist on Switch).

I'm still somewhat hopeful that the next Xenoblade will be out on Switch as XC2 launched early in its life cycle, but given its history of 1 game per system I'm doubtful. Though I suppose we did get an excellent and huge DLC game in the form of Torna, so I can't complain!

Waiting for a release on a newer, more powerful console so they can really push the visuals and create beautiful worlds isn't so bad either.

Big game incoming!!!

That's good with me they make great games

I'm pretty nervous about this since i know they lost many people from their team to work on BOTW while XC2 was in development. This clearly effected the final product as everything (graphics, menus, gameplay, etc.) was way better in Torna, the DLC, than the main game.
So, I hope this doesn't mean they're losing people from their current project. Whether it be Xenoblade or another RPG.
Though if this is about them making a Zelda RPG I'll be more excited for a new videogame than I have been in a long time. I doubt this is the case, more likely they are working on the overworld which is just fine. They did an amazing job in BOTW, I only hope that there is actually an engaging story in the next Zelda.

I would love to have a Zelda game with RPG elements and above all a more linear story driven adventure (probably not going to happen but a man can dream...)

@Ham-n-jam yesss.. i would be happy as well.. i still have hopes.. let's see.. I haven't played Torna so far.. but i will

Sticking with the open world then. Guess we won't see this before 2021.

It's a really complicated feeling: studio I would like to see more games from is making a game in a series that I absolutely do not want to touch.
I can already see NintendoLife articles in a few years: "Why is the new Legend of Zelda the best game MonolithSoft has ever done and the only one we care about?"

Link in a skell would be pretty interesting.

@Grumblevolcano "(except Mario Kart, there's no need for a Mario Kart 9 to exist on Switch)."

Those of us who didn't feel the need to double dip disagree. 😎

I think 2020 is way too soon.
Knowing zelda, and seeing how they are trying to renew the serie with each chapter, I put my money on a 2021 scheduled release which will be delayed until 2022.
It pains my heart to say so but I call it right here, right now.
Anyway, quality over punctuality, right?

@westman98 they already said that it is set for next year?

@CupMugBros I agree with you. But I think this is good news because they are likely to help with the world building than the gameplays.

I also hope that this Zelda game will make us wait a bit less since last time they were experimenting with environmental conditions e.g. heat, cold and wind... They Now have a solid ground to build, so I guess 2021could be the year we can play the next game. What do you think?

@Yasume
Hmmm...

Guess we'll see

Yes I'm excited to hear Monolith Soft is helping with the next Zelda game! They're work is top notch

Hate to be a stickler for technicalities, but Monolith Soft is a first party Nintendo studio, not second party. Saw a few people getting that wrong in the comments.
Anyway, BOTW had an amazing open world imo. Can't wait to see what they do next. And yeah like others have said, I hope they flesh out the story more this time around and give us more unique and plentiful dungeons.

Monolith guys, gimme Xenoblade Chronicles X 2, please. Let the Nintendo EPD studio develop the next Zelda game, focus on Xeno.

If the next Zelda is going to use the same engine as Breath of the Wild, then I think it can come before 2022, perhaps even at the end of 2020 if the story is a sequel of BotW, as they can change some areas to make the world different and add new areas like for example:

1. 10 small islands which contains a temple/dungeon that can only be reached if we solve the puzzles of the islands.
2. A large swamp area hidden in a secret cave in the Akkala region. A temple will appear in the swamp after you put three indian-like artifacts.
3. An area exclusive for the new villain. This I think is required because just making a sequel where you have to rebuild Hyrule would not be enough to create an engaging story because 90% of the Zelda games have a villain.

I wouldn't mind a DLC for BoTW as well to expand to those other parts of the map you can see but are currently off limits.

As good a job as they did helping with BotW, I don't see their involvement being a train wreck of any kind.

@rjejr Anything a Mario Kart 9 could do could just be instead added as DLC/updates for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Same could be said about Splatoon 2 and a potential Splatoon 3 but unlike Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2 has an official end month for support (July 2019).

I love the Xenoblade series.

Monolith Soft is one of my aboslute favorite studios.

@oji

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has been out for a long time now.

I bet you mean X 2 ? I would love to see that too.

Exciting! But the game is probably years away..

@rjejr I agree with you. I played the hell outta Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, and I just cant justify spending 60 dollars on a slightly upgraded version.

2021 or 2022 seems likely to me, even if they do quick turnaround Majora's Mask style, the game is going to be too big to be done that fast. If we do get Zelda next year, it'll probably be Skyward Sword HD.

I would be fine with them taking the same map from BOTW and "advancing it", IE adding cities and new forests overtop of the previous world.

@Aneira, yep, thanks for fixing.

Just what I wanted...Zelda with 40 hours of Waifu cutscenes and combat you need an engineering degree to comprehend.

@SetupDisk
If the normal moon, itself being a Stalfos magnet, got so messed up in Termina... what could the MM treatment do to Breath Of The Wild's red moon?!?

Sweet. I hadn't enjoyed a Zelda game like 'Breath of the Wild' since 'Ocarina of Time'. The characters, flashbacks, music, puzzles, and action were all perfect imo. I played the game docked more than portable due to it's beautiful graphics. I hope the next is JUST as good as BoTW... or better if possible🤔

I’m up for a direct sequel in the same world with proper temples and more story elements. Maybe a few special indestructible weapons as well. And for a twist the villain is Zelda but you don’t find out it’s her until you’re about to put her to the sword!

@rex_rex Get in on that sweet, sweet Torna DLC my dude, it does wonders for fleshing out the overall story and has good character development for some of the peeps that also appear in the main game.

@RadioHedgeFund That's pretty much exactly what I want in a new game, that and maybe the ability to travel to other kingdoms surrounding hyrule, to add more places to discover

Whatever that Zelda game is I'm excited, can't wait to hear more about it.

@RadioHedgeFund that idea kinda reminds me of those Final Fantasy Wiiware games. My Life as King, or something...?

Personally, I would rather Monolith Soft focus on that new IP with the beautiful concept art. I'm still excited to see what it becomes.

BotW took 6 years, and they said they were starting on the new one in 2017. Now, if they're making BotW 2 and simply building off of the foundation, then maybe they could shave it down to 4~ years, which means we're looking at around 2021~.

One possibility is they try to rush it for 2020, but that would be just three years of development time and I would worry about the quality.

@SwitchForce the point in those areas is so that you don't go far enough to see the ugly 2d background up close.

I'm really excited by this news, Monolith develops Xenoblade games, who are my favourite games ever, so I think I will like a Monolith Zelda. It's easy to see their hand even in Breath Of The Wild, especially if you play it after Xenoblade Chronicles X. I hope they develop Xenoblade X 2 or Xenoblade 3 too.

Legend of Zelda: Waifu Deluxe edition featuring Birdo from Super Mario Bros.
I like the sound of that.

Maybe they are developing the next indie Zelda. Do I smell match-3 puzzles?

I'm only just playing through Xenoblade Chronicles on Wii ahaha. For the sequel, I still say they should have made better use of the traps and such like boulder kills, I think I got around 2 red bokobos in my ridiculous amount of hours. Online support for 1 other to join your game increasing difficulty and korok seed count whilst online counts for both. More dungeons, story and interesting areas. I don't mind the same Hyrule, just tweaked.

@Grumblevolcano "Anything a Mario Kart 9 could do"

OK, well what if they call it Nintendo Kart instead, add in more of their roster. They already did by adding in Zelda, why not Fire Emblem - more tracks in castles - and Splatoon tracks where the karts actually go under water. I'm a fan of Sonic Transformed. Imagine driving teeny-tiny carts through the world of Pikmin, in between the legs of the onion, next to the Dolphin. Or having slinky karts like the characters in ARMS.

Now imagine they call that Mario Kart 9.

@Grumblevolcano "Same could be said about Splatoon 2"

Speaking of Spaltoon 2 - couldn't salmon run just have been DLC for Spaltoon DX? Did they really need to make SSBU, couldn't they just have ported SSB for Wii U and call it SSB DX? Is Super Mario Maker 2 really going to be all that different from SMM DX?

MK8 DX was a port, Switch owners are going to want a new MK9 in 2 or 3 years, and Switch will almost certainly last another 4 or 5.

@RadioHedgeFund I'm sorry but that sounds boring as hell.

@beazlen1 It isn't that much of a twist if you are already expecting it.

Let’s just hope the game doesn’t perform like xenoblade chronicles 2 the frame rate and resolution issues were terrible

@SetupDisk I would love to believe that, but I can't shake the feeling that Nintendo lloooovvees these Zelda remakes/reimaginings. Link's Awakening this year, 2020 Skyward Sword HD, 2021 Oracle of Ages & Seasons or just a break year and a tease of BOTW 2.

@westman98 how can you be so sure?

Hopefully the next installment keeps the Open Air mechanic and build upon it. People ask for more traditional dungeons, but I guess what they really mean is that they want a diverse set of aesthetics and themes for them. BotW Divine Beasts were way more fun than any of the traditional dungeons I've played, the only bad thing about them is that they look kind of the same. That along a real blacksmith that repairs/enhances your favorite weapons would be gold. And for the setting in general, I would like if they focused more in the sea. BotW did a great job to put different environments to explore (icy areas, a jungle, a volcano, desert, forests, beaches, etc.), but the sea exploration was weak and quite simple to be honest and the could go on that route to make it feel fresh. That, along a real cave system that covers all of Hyrule, would make me really happy.

Can't wait for the ree people to complain about a lack of playable Zelda when it's announced and keep whining about it until Nintendo feels pressured to make a statement.

@Baart Thirsty teens.

@Devlind I like the sound of more sea exploration. They basically shoehorned in 1080 in BoTW so now they can squeeze in some Waverace action! Love me some Waverace

We will get another mainline Zelda before Switch lifetime ends.

While you are at that Monolith Soft, I hope we get another Baten Kaitos game!

I really hope they're using the same engine. They should reuse assets and make a MM type of game.

@Cheez hence why they are hiring for the project...

The menu in Torna is largely the same as XC2. It isn't anymore complex than any other RPG.

@bignrules BOTW has frame rate issues too. It'll probably be a dual release with the Switch successor if they don't go to MM route.

If the next 3D Zelda was a Majora's Mask-esque sequel, it would have been released or would be releasing now.

Unlike Majora's Mask, the next 3D Zelda will almost certainly see an increase in scope and breadth.

@Devlind thx bro.

Worked on Breath of the Wild-Okay cool.

Worked on Skyward Sword-Back away from Zelda.

Give us a xenoblade chronicles x port while we wait

@MattFox I know. It seemed like a rather silly comment to me. We don't need MK9 b/c we already have MK8. Well we had MK1, so then we really didn't need MK2, 3, 4 5, 6, 7 or 8 either. Though some of them are handheld. But MKWii was playable on the Wii U, just put the disc in and play, so we really didn't need MK8 on Wii U when we could already play MK Wii on it. We need a new MK9, it' soen of their best selling franchises on any system, a new 1 would sell, even to the peopel who bought MK8DX on Switch. Not this holiday, too soon, maybe not even next holiday 2020, but by 2021 who wouldn't' be ready for MK9? Switch 2 or whatever they call it won't be out until 2022 the earliest. And if Switch 2 does 4k, well then they can always port MK9 to Switch 2 as MK94k.

It sells too well to go much more than 5 years between NEW versions of the game, which is how long it's been now since MK8 released in 2014. And adding DLC to a 2 year old DX edition sounds rather unnecessary. Hopefully Nintendo isn't wasting a big dev on Mario Kart Tour and somebody big has been at work on MK9 the past 2 years since MK8DX released.

So, this is totally coming out on XBOX, am I right?

Well I'm hoping for some proper dungeons if there is another BotW style game. The weapon system could do with tweaking and I WANT THE HOOKSHOT BACK! More gadget items like in previous Zelda's would be great.

I just realized there are at least 3 Zelda titles in development at this very moment:

Cadence of Hyrule: Spring 2019 release
Link's Awakening Remake: 2019 release (most likely during the holidays)
New 3D Zelda: 2020-2021 release

Pretty exciting times for Zelda fans.

@CupMugBros have to so strongly disagree with this because this means you never really gave them a chance. XCX's combat system was by far one of the most intricate and in depth system i have ever had the honour of playing. But I only got to truly appreciate it at least 100 hours into the game. I feel monolith soft prides themselves in making a system that requires patience and time to master and truly appreciate. Maybe this is something you simply didn't truly invest enough time in before making your statement.

@Baart LOL! No kidding. It's so comical to see this argument get rehashed again and again. Following this logic, I guess DKC2: Diddy's Kong Quest and DKC3: Dixie's Double Trouble were both lies because you didn't play as Donkey Kong. Mother is so ridiculous. The protagonists are little boys! And Metroid needs to have a playable Metroid protagonist! We should boycott Final Fantasy because there's nothing final about it! It just keeps going! Oh, and Dragon Quest sucks because you play as people instead of Dragons! So much to get triggered about, so little time.

As long as they don't help with the voice acting or character design. Xenoblade Chronicles 2's voice work was meh meh meh, let the reader understand.

@Danjel Why would people dislike this? I agree, we should have more interactions and lore building or plot.

@Kriven Well since we still won't buy the base game, Nintedo loses out on $60 for MK9 PLUS whatever they would sell as DLC for MK9. So, I just imagine Nitnnedo losing a lot of money if they go that route b/c I knwo we aren't the only ones. Which is fine by me, saves me a lot of money.

Really excited ! I hope we will have an open world Zelda like Botw, but with a better focus on story (I found the one in botw a bit lacking) and quests (I mean, why not if they are interesting enough)

I'm waiting the new Monolight game with impatience as well ! Some fantasy rpg, right ?

@Kriven I may be an extreme minority, can't argue with that, I just bought the Labo vehicle kit yesterday, but how many copies of MK9 do you think they would sell at $60? B/c I would buy that, and I would be in the extreme majority then as it would probably sell 20 million copies at least. (MKWii sold 37m on 100m consoles, Switch will be somewhere between 30m and 100m in 2 or 3 years.) Why sell DLC for $20 when you can sell a new game for $60 THEN sell more DLC for $20?

Breath of the Wild Sequel? Never gonna happen lol.