Monolith Soft president on the company’s growth, future prospects of the industry

In a previous issue of Famitsu, the publication spoke with Monolith Soft president Hirohide Sugiura. One of the topics discussed was how Monolith Soft has grown in scale, and Sugiura’s vision for the future.

He shared the following with the Japanese magazine:

“We aren’t focusing our attention on increasing the amount of employees or offices we have. It’s more that we’re meeting the needs of our projects and the scope of what’s requested of us. And we’re still recruiting talent in order to reach our goals, so I hope anyone interested checks us out. But I also think we’re going to feel the effects of the decreasing birthrate in Japan as we continue on. So even though there will be people with a variety of different circumstances, as long as we prepare for what’s ahead, we can make it easier to join in on game development. Therefore, regardless whether the current situation with coronavirus calms down or not, I want us to keep maintaining a work-from-home environment.”

Sugiura also had this to say regarding prospects for the future of the video game industry:

“Rather than be a company that’s always on a roll, I want us to be a company that sustains itself. I want when our employees retire and look back on their career, they say, ‘I sure am glad I worked here.’ And I don’t want the games industry to be something that’s only for the wealthy or first-world nations; I hope the barriers can be broken down and the accessibility to enjoy games spreads, because video games bring smiles to people’s faces.”

Monolith Soft turned 20 years old in 2019. The studio’s most recent release was Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition.