Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
With the end of Kingdom Hearts 3, the main story of the franchise has come to an end of sorts, for better or worse. Even so, there has been some extra content since and it seems like there will continue to be, especially with the 20th anniversary of the franchise on the horizon. Kingdom Hearts Director Tetsuya Nomura revealed that there are still things to wrap up and, though there are no KH games planned for the next-gen yet, fans should watch for ‘good news’ on the anniversary in 2022.
Nomura shared a glimpse of what’s ahead for Kingdom Hearts in an interview with Japanese online publication Dengeki Online, as translated by Gematsu. In that interview, Nomura mused about the future of the series. He shared that the main storyline is pretty much done and characters like Xehanort won’t be coming back, but there’s still stories to tell, such as those found in Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory.
“I intend to tie up remaining loose story ends but also want to change the format a bit,” Nomura explained. “I want to drastically change the world and tell a new story, but also tie up the loose ends.”
Of course, when Nomura actually gets his next opportunity to wrap up those loose ends is anyone’s guess - even Nomura’s. According to Nomura, there are a lot of games between now and his next Kingdom Hearts venture.
“If we make a Kingdom Hearts game for next-gen consoles, it’s going to be released after many other companies have already released their titles, so I believe we’d have to make something that could compete,” He continued. “Of course, that’s only a hypothetical since we haven’t announced that there will be a new title for PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X.”
Nomura ended in saying that 2022 will be an important time for the Kingdom Hearts franchise as its 20th anniversary. As such, players can perhaps expect to see something special when that time comes.
“2022 will be 20th anniversary [of Kingdom Hearts]. We’re working to deliver good news, so I hope you’ll keep on eye on us until then,” Nomura concluded.
What might 2022 bring? It’s hard to say considering we’ve got a whole 2021 to get through, but it seems there are definitely plans to continue the Kingdom Hearts franchise well into the future.