If I may be blunt for a bit, one of the reasons I’m seriously worried about the gaming industry right now is that there are too many developers and publishers focused on profits over making actual quality games. The last several years alone have provided us with NUMEROUS stories about toxic workplaces, rushed productions, terrible leadership decisions and more, and the layoffs continue to happen because of it. However, it’s in these times that we find people who ARE doing things properly and are getting results that we all can notice, like with Monolith Soft.
They are the team behind numerous RPGS over the years, with their latest game being Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition on the Switch. Many are pumped to see what they do on the Switch 2, and I’m one of them. In recent weeks, though, the team at Monolith Soft has been “pulling back the curtain” to show people what it’s like to work at the company. In a chat with CGWorld, for example, they revealed that they’ve been working hard on R&D so they can help create vast worlds in a quicker amount of time. The reason they’re able to do this is because of the “borderless communication” the team has with one another. Lead map designer Yoichi Akizuki had this to say on the matter:
“I don’t feel any organizational borders, to the point that I sometimes forget that Hirose (R&D technical artist Mitsuhiro Hirose) isn’t part of the game development side. (laughs) We’re constantly in touch because we’re all working toward the same goal – making the game better.”
Indeed. So, when a teammate has a problem, the R&D team hears it out and then just…makes it work. Go figure. It goes deeper than that, though, as those at the top don’t restrict those working in the trenches because that’s simply not how the company works, as revealed by programmer Takashi Shibahara:
“We follow processes, reach an agreement, leave a tangible record, and then move to the next step. Our company is not top-down, but bottom-up. Our leadership leaves things to the frontline and tries to listen to on-site feedback as much as possible. We are now in an era where the quality of a game is directly tied to how much individual ingenuity makes it into the final product. I think Monolith Soft is doing quite well in that regard.”
They certainly are special, which is why I can’t wait to see what their first game on the Switch 2 will be.
