Kingdom Hearts III

Kingdom Hearts III is an upcoming video game of unknown release and platform. It has been the subject of much rumour and speculation, though the project has yet to begin development, due to series producer Tetsuya Nomura's focus on Final Fantasy Versus XIII.

History
After Square Enix finished development of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+, Kingdom Hearts producer Tetsuya Nomura was approached by Disney who expressed interest in a sequel. In regard to a possible release of a Kingdom Hearts III, Nomura said "We have various ideas, but we're not at the point where we can say that." He added that due to the development of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, "it's physically impossible at the present. I feel that it's not the right time to talk about the future of Kingdom Hearts." In response to questions as to the secret movie in Final Mix+, Nomura noted that it was of a "new series" in Kingdom Hearts rather than Kingdom Hearts III. When asked about Kingdom Hearts III, Nomura noted that fans and partners alike were interested in its release, and would work to "realize it" as soon as possible. In the Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Ultimania guide book, Nomura announced three upcoming titles, one of which was Kingdom Hearts III. However, Final Fantasy Versus XIII was still his primary focus, preventing him from starting production on Kingdom Hearts III. He later noted that Kingdom Hearts III would not see a release until after 2012, due to his pressing on Final Fantasy Versus XIII, regardless of the 10th anniversary of the series occurring in that year. The Nintendo 3DS video game Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance was announced to connect to Kingdom Hearts III, both in terms of gameplay system and story.

Synopsis
The story is expected to take place sometime after the events of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, with Sora and company attempting to finally thwart the plans of Master Xehanort. It has been confirmed by Tetsuya Nomura that the game will conclude the "Dark Seeker Saga" but will not be the final game in the series.

Rumours and speculation
Ars Technica's Frank Caron noted that speculation existed whether the gap between Kingdom Hearts II and III would be similar to the gap between the first game and II, where both would have spin-off titles in between them. In an interview conducted between Nomura and Famitsu, Nomura mentioned a secret video in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep of the "next title." When asked if this was of Kingdom Hearts III, Nomura responded by saying "the next title is the next title." A rumour in the Official PlayStation Magazine suggested that Kingdom Hearts III would be exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and would be revealed at the 2009 Tokyo Game Show. 1UP.com's Kris Pigna said it was nothing more than a rumour, however, citing a recent false rumour made in a previous issue of the magazine. Shack News speculated whether Kingdom Hearts III would be featured on the Xbox 360, considering Final Fantasy XIII was released on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 previously. Metro noted rumours that Kingdom Hearts III would appear on the Wii, though added that due to recent comments on high-definition graphics, this was unlikely. They did note, however, that another rumour indicates that Kingdom Hearts III would appear on next-generation consoles, specifically the recently announced Wii U.

Expectations
IGN's Ryan Clements, as a result of his Kingdom Hearts fandom, created a concept of how he wanted such a game to be; in particular, he wanted it to show a more romantic relationship between Sora and Kairi, darker antagonists, and a deeper combat system. Due to the buyout of Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm by Disney, it was speculated whether Marvel or Star Wars characters or themes would appear in a future Kingdom Hearts game. Metro criticized Kingdom Hearts Re:coded along with the other spin-offs following Kingdom Hearts II, wanting Square Enix to "hurry up and get on with" Kingdom Hearts III, feeling that it would provide an opportunity for the series to be revamped. G4TV's review of Re:coded gave similar criticism, calling it "no Kingdom Hearts III." The Escapist's John Funk joked that we would see Kingdom Hearts III released alongside Diablo III and Half-Life 2: Episode 3, two other upcoming video games notorious for taking a long time to be released."