The next release in the Kingdom Hearts series will not be #3 yet -- it'll be another filler compilation of previous titles, most of them from handhelds. And in typical fashion, it'll be sold with a weird subtitle. Why is the number 2.8? Was there a method by which they arrived at that specific figure, or was it random?
Kingdom Hearts director Tetsuya Nomura spoke with Japan's Weekly Famitsu magazine (translated by
NovaCrystallis) about the series and the meaning behind the number. Nomura revealed that since all the games from the previous compilation (called Kingdom Hearts 2.5) were set before Dream Drop Distance (which is included in 2.8), it stands to reason that DDD is number 2.6.
He also considers Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover to be set before any other game in the series, therefore counting as Kingdom Hearts Zero. And then there's Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, which he says is number .2 (and doesn't give a reason why this time). 2.6 + 0 + .2 equals 2.8.
Note that this title was previously revealed as Kingdom Hearts 2.9, so he apparently got his math wrong initially. Kingdom Hearts 2.8 will show up on the Playstation 4 sometime in 2016.
