'Kingdom Hearts 3' Release Date: Director busy designing characters for 'Xenoblade Chronicles 2'?

Kingdom Hearts 3 may be a while off, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy work from some of its contributing staff members in other projects, starting with the upcoming Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Eagle-eyed gamers have noted (via DualShockers) that the end of the latest Xenoblade Chronicles 2 trailer features a very familiar name: Tetsuya Nomura, Kingdom Hearts 3 director. What is he contributing to the project? And what does it mean for the KH3 release date? Let's find out.

Kingdom Hearts 3 release date: Tetsuya Nomura and Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Tetsuya Nomura is listed in the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 credits as the Character Designer for the organization known as Torna/Iira. There are two characters that have been revealed by way of Twitter already, but neither of them have specific names just yet.

You can see the signature Nomura design hallmarks in these characters, like the dark hair pictured. The character below is also a perfect match with his silvery long locks and mask. These two definitely wouldn't feel out of place in Kingdom Hearts 3.

Unfortunately, that's all we can surmise about Nomura's direct involvement in the game for now. One thing's for sure: Nomura is a very, very busy guy, splitting time, apparently splitting his time between working on Kingdom Hearts 3 and designing characters for Monolith Soft — get that money, Nomura.

We're all looking forward to the next installment of Kingdom Hearts 3, which still has no concrete release date (we don't even have a vague launch window yet). Hopefully, pitching in on Xenoblade Chronicles 2 won't slow down development of KH3 too much.

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