It's always been the assumption that, after Kingdom Hearts 3, fans of the action-RPG series would have to wait quite a while until the inevitable Kingdom Hearts 4. We do have the rhythm game spin-off Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory coming out this November but, while it will be continuing the series' narrative, it's not the next major entry some fans may have hoped for.
Series creator and director Tetsuya Nomura has been taking part in interviews recently to discuss Melody of Memory and the series' future in general. Not all of it is good news. For instance, there are no plans to bring any of the previous Kingdom Hearts games to the Nintendo Switch, despite this being heavily requested by fans.
However, in his interview with Japanese outlet Famitsu, handily translated by @aitaikimochi on Twitter, he revealed that he and his team have already begun production on another Kingdom Hearts project. Not only that, the plan is to have it release in 2022. That's still two years off, but it's relatively sooner than some may have expected.
The reason for this is because 2022 marks the Kingdom Hearts series 20th anniversary, so Nomura obviously would want something to release that year. He didn't share any details as to exactly what it could be, only saying that it will be a surprise, but it's probably safe to assume that it's not Kingdom Hearts 4.
The mainline numbered titles usually require longer development times and it sounds as if work on this next project has only just begun. The series is no stranger to having smaller games to tide fans over, though they've always had relevance to the ongoing narrative.
Fans may think that it has to be something big to coincide with the 20th anniversary, but that's not necessarily the case. For the 15th anniversary, Square Enix released Dream Drop Distance for the 3DS, which mostly served as further build-up for Kingdom Hearts 3.
Maybe it will be a Yozora game? Very little is still know about the mysterious new character, aside from the fact that he does play a vital role in the future. A game that explains who he really is and what sort of adventures he went on before meeting Sora could prove popular.
The team certainly has their hands full at the moment, as development is also still ongoing for the two mobile games, Union Cross and Dark Road. The former recently had its fifth anniversary and a major mystery was finally answered.
Both games still have a lot of unanswered questions that are most likely needed to understand any future plot developments. Hopefully, these will be resolved before 2022 rolls along.