How Procedural Generation Powered Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Development on Nintendo Switch

Monolith Soft Redefines Asset Creation for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 With Procedural Generation As the gaming industry evolves, the demands of game development continue to escalate—particularly when it comes to building immersive, expansive worlds for titles such as Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

Released exclusively for the Nintendo Switch, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 stands out not only for its acclaimed narrative and gameplay, but also for the sheer scale of its environments.

In a recent interview with CG World, members of Monolith Soft’s development team shared how they harnessed procedural generation to manage the massive volume of assets required to bring their ambitious vision to life on Nintendo’s hybrid platform. A Clear Distinction: Procedural Generation vs.

Generative AI One point Monolith Soft’s team clarified is that the technology employed in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is procedural generation—not generative AI.

Procedural generation relies on algorithms built around assets meticulously crafted and approved by the development team.

In contrast, generative AI often draws from a wider, less controlled range of data, which may introduce risks and copyright concerns.

By leveraging procedural generation, Monolith Soft ensured creative control and consistency with their established artistic direction. Meeting the Demands of Expansive Game Worlds Yoichi Akizuki, who specializes in map modeling for Monolith Soft, along with support engineer Mitsuhiro Hirose and programmer Takashi Shibahara, detailed the rationale behind adopting tools such as Houdini.

As the Xenoblade series grew in complexity with each installment, it became impractical to manually craft every asset.

According to Akizuki, "The main reason for introducing procedural generation was to handle the surging number of assets needed for our game worlds, which are vast and diverse.

Where we previously managed 1,000 to 2,000 assets manually, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 required us to create upwards of 100,000.

This scale simply couldn’t be achieved using traditional methods within our cost and time constraints." Embracing Automation Without Compromising Creativity By automating much of the asset placement through procedural generation with Houdini, Monolith Soft was able to shift focus and development resources toward the creative aspects of the game.

Akizuki highlighted that this procedural approach was first fully realized in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 after years of research and internal testing.

"Automating this process not only streamlined development but also gave our technical artists and designers more direct control to make adjustments, eliminating the constant need for programmer involvement.

This arrangement allowed programmers to dedicate more time to enhancing the game environment, creating a win-win scenario for our entire team." Monolith Soft’s adoption of procedural generation marks a milestone in their development pipeline and serves as a compelling case study on how studios can tackle the challenges posed by larger, more ambitious projects.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s success—both critically and commercially on the Nintendo Switch and eShop—demonstrates how innovative solutions can push technical boundaries while maintaining creative integrity. As the demand for expansive worlds and intricate gameplay grows, Monolith Soft's approach may well become a blueprint for other developers navigating the balance between scalability, control, and creativity in game development.

Nintendo Switch Xenoblade Nintendo Monolith Soft Xenoblade Chronicles Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Switch Houdini CG World VGC Yoichi Akizuki Mitsuhiro Hirose Takashi Shibahara