Fans of the Xenoblade series will be delighted to know that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 from Monolith Soft may not be too far away if reports are to be believed. In fact, a target release window puts it in the first half of 2022.

Fanbyte, who has corroborated the rumor of Final Fantasy Origin from a few months back, confirms that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is indeed in development and could be revealed soon.

According to the report, the third game in the trilogy will be a direct sequel, and “The ending of the trilogy takes place in the far-flung future with a few returning characters who have long-outlived their human counterparts from both Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2.”

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was said to have been revealed earlier this year, but cites the pandemic as a reason that the devs had a difficult time, along with optimizing the game for the Switch. The report claims that “The game is aiming for more character models on screen at once than any previous title, accounting for both playable characters and enemies.”

Prior to this, Melia’s voice actor Jenna Coleman made some interesting comments, seemingly confirming the existence of Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

In a video chat, when asked about how she got the role of Melia, Coleman mentioned “God, when was the first game? Ten years ago? It was a long time ago, I did it pre-Doctor Who days and when they did they second one , they asked me to come back. And I think they’re going to do another,” Coleman paused. “Common knowledge? Don’t know. Yeah, I think they’re going to do another. Not sure if I’m allowed to say that.”

Fanbyte proceeds to confirm her statements, saying that Coleman would be aware of the third game since her character is returning for the sequel and has probably recorded voice acting for it. Fanbyte also says that “the game is nearing its final stages of development, but its release date may be held back for any number of reasons.”

Fanbyte does have a streak of confirming things like these, and if they are correct with this as they were with Final Fantasy Origins, then Nintendo and Xenoblade fans should definitely be excited for this one!