'Kingdom Hearts 3' Not Expected Until April 2018 at the Earliest
Square Enix has said time and again that "Kingdom Hearts 3" is still a long way off. A new investor document suggests that the developer meant that the highly anticipated game is coming 2018 at the earliest.
The document shared around on NeoGAF lists upcoming titles set for release in the fiscal year 2018 (which began this month up to March 31 next year) "and beyond."
"Dragon Quest XI" is listed for a 2017 release date while "Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age" has a more specific launch set July 13 this year.
"Kingdom Hearts 3" is also part of the list although it is assumed it falls under the "beyond" category, which means that the game's earliest possible launch is April 2018.
The same goes for the "Final Fantasy VII: Remake," the upcoming Avengers game from Crystal Dynamics and a Guardians of the Galaxy game.
That being said, there really is a long way ahead before "Kingdom Hearts 3" finally sees the light of day, which comes as a bit of a disappointment to fans.
Game director Hajime Tabata said earlier this year that there is a ton of work that needs to be done. Speaking to Famitsu (via KH Insider), he revealed that there are worlds that remain untouched.
"Worlds we haven't announced yet tend to be further along in development, so we're at a stage where what we could show is what we can't show," he explained.
Tabata knows that this could be a source of worry among fans so he assured them that they are doing their best in building "Kingdom Hearts 3" and to make sure they do not waste time.
"We never start by working on all the worlds at the same time. In order to avoid having to redo things once we've started it's necessary to let things take shape only after all the elements have received approval, and there are currently some worlds that are still being audited," he stated.
Tabata emphasized that they will also be remaking every single character model for the current-generation console so that's a big load of work ahead of them.
"But, you don't have to worry about the quality, so please wait until the next opportunity I have to show you something. Preparations are underway," he went on to say.