In a recent interview with Ultimania (helpfully translated by the folks over at Kingdom Hearts Insider), Director Tetsuya Nomura stated that he has multiple ideas for the next Kingdom Hearts game, and that it's likely that the next game he starts working on won't be the hotly anticipated Kingdom Hearts 3. While discussing the upcoming Birth by Sleep and its connections to the original Kingdom Hearts (as Birth by Sleep takes place before the original game), Nomura stated that BbS would contain a lot of unanswered questions. When asked if Kingdom Hearts 3 would be the game that bridged Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts, he responded as follows.

Who knows? I already have ideas for the next installment. But since Birth by Sleep isn’t even out yet, I don’t have to think about it until awhile from now. Recently everyone kepts asking me when I’m planning on coming out with KH3. Even though I’m currently busy with Final Fantasy Versus XIII, I’m also thinking that it’s almost time to start thinking about it seriously. Though it’s entirely possible that the next game in the series won’t be KH3. 

While I don't think this necessarily means that the game hasn't been started at ALL, it's definitely a sign that fans of Kingdom Hearts will be waiting a while before KH3 is finally released, particularly since it sounds like yet another spin-off game is being made first. When asked about what this mystery spinoff game might be, Nomura only said that it would be "more official than a side story" and that it is a "mystery KH". Regardless of which game ends up coming out first, Nomura suggests that both games are not very far along in the development process.

The full interview goes into a lot of detail about Birth by Sleep, coded, and 358/2 Days, so if you're interested in Kingdom Hearts it's definitely worth reading.

Does this 'mystery Kingdom Hearts' sound appealing to you, or are you ready for them to stop messing around with spinoffs and finally make a true sequel?

[Via The Examiner]