After 5 years since its debut during E3 2013, Kingdom Hearts 3 might finally have its release date announced during this year’s E3. Last month, game director Tetsuya Nomura had mentioned that Square Enix plans to announce the exact release date early next month, and rightfully so. To all who might not be too familiar with the franchise: Kingdom Hearts is a little bit as if a Final Fantasy game was crash landed in the Disney/Pixar universe.
As you may have known by now, development has been taking its for this game to develop due to the prioritization of Final Fantasy XV. However, since that has been released, more effort has been made into making Kingdom Hearts 3. Since the announcement, Square Enix has published several collections to gather all the installations from across the platforms it has been released: KH2.5 Remix for PS3, KH 1.5 + 2.5 Remix for PS4, KH Unchained χ for mobile, and KH 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue for PS4.
During D23 2017, Square Enix and Disney finally announced that the game has been scheduled for release sometime this year with a trailer. The trailer has also confirmed Toy Story characters to be included in the game and introduced a new keyblade transformation.
Over the course of the past few months, Square Enix has released two more trailers at D23 Expo Japan 2018 that signaled that the game is nearing its completion. One trailer confirmed Monsters Inc and Tangled content would be included, more special attacks, and the inclusion of other characters from previous installments of the franchise that aren’t in the main titles. The second trailer previewed the new theme song titled “Don’t Think Twice” by J-Pop celebrity Utada Hikaru.
The game is expected to make an appearance on both Square Enix’ and Sony’s conference which will be held on June 11, 2018, during E3. The release date would most likely come from Square Enix. Kingdom Hearts 3 will be coming out on both PS4 and Xbox One.
Update: The release date has now been confirmed to be January 29, 2019.
YouTube: KINGDOM HEARTS III – CLASSIC KINGDOM Trailer
Photo credit: All used media has been provided by Square Enix for press usage.
Source: Jeremy Winslow (GameSpot) / YouTube (as linked) / IGN
Editorial notice: The article has been updated on the 11th of June to reflect the announced release date of the game.
