Xenoblade developer Monolith Soft has started recruiting staff to work on a new Zelda game.
Although Monolith’s headquarters are located in Tokyo, the company’s Kyoto team has become renowned for its work as a Nintendo support studio and is closely associated with the Zelda series.
In fact, Monolith has served as a co-developer for the last three major Zelda releases: Skyward Sword in 2011, A Link Between Worlds in 2013, and Breath of the Wild in 2017.
For Breath of the Wild, Monolith’s focus was on helping create some of the game’s expansive landscapes. For this new unnamed Zelda project, it appears that the developer will be taking on an even greater role.
Job vacancies list positions for artists (including modelling, animation, and effects), programmers (such as character control, environmental maintenance, system, and framework programmers), and planners (including actions, level designers, and quests).
One of the design roles is listed as a “lead character designer,” along with other positions for a concept artist, character modeler, map modeler, in-game animator, and more.
Nintendo has previously noted Monolith Soft’s role as a co-developer, but this open recruitment drive is unprecedented – as is the casual confirmation, albeit unsurprising, that the next major Zelda game is in the works.
Zelda fans have noted with interest that the artwork on Monolith’s Zelda job page includes grainy versions of the Hyrule crest with the symbols of its three goddesses – Din, Nayru, and Farore – embedded within it. Another image mysteriously includes the Gate of Time used in Skyward Sword to zip between different time periods.
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The Gate of Time from Skyward Sword.
With a visually stunning version of the classic Game Boy game Link’s Awakening set to release for the Nintendo Switch before the end of 2019, Nintendo seems poised to release a Zelda game this year. Is 2020 too soon for a Breath of the Wild sequel? I’m about to step through the Gate of Time and find out.
