‘Kingdom Hearts III’ Was Set To Release In 2017, But ‘Final Fantasy XV’ Delayed It [RUMOR]

Kingdom Hearts III was first revealed back in 2013, and new rumors suggest it was planned to release this year up until fairly recently. Building on reports that emerged earlier this week, KH13 has new tweet translations from Square Enix insider José Álamo. Here’s what he had to say on the subject.

In our original story we discussed the idea that Square Enix had planned to reveal some kind of trailer in April, but apparently that’s only half the scoop. The second part of that schedule also reportedly included “launching [the game] around 2017 fall or holidays with removed content.” However, due to the “development hell” of the project that would eventually become Final Fantasy XV, that goal was never met. The source goes on to suggest that if game director Tetsuya Nomura “was an Osaka Team resident and he set his goals accurately, [Kingdom Hearts III] would be out in December like planned.”

Read: Kingdom Hearts III Rumored To Release In 2018 With Cut Content

It also doesn’t help that Nomura has repeatedly found himself in situations where he’s working on two major games at once. Not only had he been splitting time between Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy XV for years, but now he’s also playing double duty between Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy 7 Remake. These contributing factors have reportedly never allowed Kingdom Hearts development to gain much steam.

For those who missed our previous report, Álamo also said that Kingdom Hearts III is planned to release in 2018 even if content has to be cut to make it happen. While his unproven words may sound a bit rash, the situation isn’t uncommon for Kingdom Hearts titles or game development in general. Unfinished content is often what drives a developer’s DLC strategy. As a popular franchise long before the DLC era, Kingdom Hearts games were routinely released in Japan as Final Mixes with extra content. If we had to guess, we’d imagine Square will adopt the standard industry practice of a DLC season pass with a complete edition to follow later if Kingdom Hearts III’s sales warrant it.

Assuming the above rumors are correct, the next major showcase for Kingdom Hearts III will be during E3 in June. Álamo claims that Square has already designed a trailer and that Nomura may be involved in some sort of presentation at the show. Because E3 is open to the public this year, that could feasibly involve an appearance at a fan panel or during a standard E3 press conference. Square Enix hasn’t announced plans for its own briefing yet, but Nomura seems like an appropriate guest to feature on Sony’s stage. After all, mainline Kingdom Hearts games have a long PlayStation heritage.

Read: Kingdom Hearts III Not Planned For 2017 Release, Square Enix Confirms

As with all pre-E3 speculation, please take this information with a grain of salt. While it was relayed by a trusted source inside Square Enix, it also comes with a delay of up to two weeks. In other words, even if what’s said here was true at the beginning of May, it may not be accurate today.

Kingdom Hearts III is in development for PS4 and Xbox One.

Would you have preferred Kingdom Hearts III to release this year instead of next year? Are you surprised Final Fantasy XV hindered its progress? Tell us in the comments section!