Kingdom Hearts III

Unreleased

The next installment in the Kingdom Hearts series, , was officially revealed by Square Enix at E3 2013 via a trailer, alongside the announcement it would be released for the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. Kingdom Hearts III is set to release January 2019.

Serving as a sequel to Kingdom Hearts II, the story takes place after the events of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. It features an older Sora as the main protagonist who sets forth on a new adventure with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Riku, Kairi, and other Disney characters. The team will search for the seven guardians of light and the "Key to Return Hearts" to stop Master Xehanort's devious plan. The game will include characters and worlds from Disney, Pixar, and Final Fantasy franchises.

Kingdom Hearts III will harness next generation console technologies to weave together an incredibly stunning universe full of both new and familiar Disney worlds. This game will conclude the series' "Dark Seeker" saga.

Details
Through countless adventures across many worlds in his long battle against the darkness, Sora, once a little boy who only dreamed worlds beyond his island even existed, has grown up to a dashing young man. Now he is realizing that that battle has played out exactly as Master Xehanort had planned, and the second Keyblade War, the final struggle between light and dark, looms ahead. To counter the overwhelming darkness, Sora and his friends must gather the seven guardians of light. His best friend Riku and King Mickey seek out a battle-scarred Keyblade wielder, while Sora, Donald, and Goofy set off on a journey to find “the Key to Return Hearts.” Never-before-featured Disney worlds set the stage for another daring adventure to save the universe!

Chosen by the Keyblade, he is the one whose heart’s light never fails to shine as a beacon of hope.

Sora, the brave hero chosen by the Keyblade, has always had a strong sense of justice. Through his many battles against darkness, he has grown and learned about the world immensely. Drawn to his light, many friends have lent him their support and granted him their powers to counter the darkness: Riku, the childhood friend he grew up with on Destiny Islands; Donald and Goofy, the two comrades with whom he has shared his adventures from the very beginning; and King Mickey, who unfailingly supports Sora with his own mighty strength. As the world becomes enveloped in another battle against darkness, the Keyblade wielder and his friends must rise up against Master Xehanort and thwart his plot to incite another Keyblade War.

Development
According to Tetsuya Nomura (the director), the development of the game began while he was working on Final Fantasy XV. However, at the time he was too busy working on this title, and said that he would go to work on Kingdom Hearts III when Final Fantasy XV was done.

The game was announced at E3 2013, and the trailer said that it was currently in development. Nomura later said that the trailer was shown too early, stating that the game was too early in production.

The team is currently selecting the game's worlds. Nomura also revealed interest to put Marvel and Star Wars content in the game. It would be great if we could add these licenses too," said Nomura. But there are a lot of questions and restrictions at Disney, so we can't put everything people want. So it's a hard decision, but we're preparing some surprises for you, so await for more info.''

In June 2014, a short teaser was released at the end of the E3 2014 trailer for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX. Co-director Tai Yasue revealed that the sequence seen in the teaser was the opening scene for the game. He added that it was created by Nomura who had "a real clear picture of [what] the starting sequence" should be and that the text seen and heard was going to "be a real integral part of the story".

In October 2014, Nomura announced that the development team had switched to Epic Game's Unreal Engine 4 due to a "variety of reasons". He also stated that the team had the full support of Epic, and that the change would not hinder the game's development. According to Kotaku and IGN, it was noted that it had been assumed that Square Enix had been using its in-house Luminous Engine to develop the game.

In June 2015, a new gameplay video was released at the E3 2015 conference, which also featured a conversation between young versions of Eraqus and Xehanort. The video spoiled the appearance of a "Tangled" world in the upcoming title, and showed battle scenes of Sora, Donald and Goofy in both the Tangled and Twilight Town worlds.

In August 2015, a world based on Big Hero 6 was revealed at D23 in California. D23 revealed that the story of this world will take place after the movie, involving the model of Baymax left in the portal at the end of the movie will be manipulated by Darkness, and concept art of Sora riding Baymax was also shown, with Dark Baymax flying alongside them, the three of them seemingly engaged in combat. It was also revealed that every Keyblade will have its own transformation.

In April 2017, Square Enix indicated that Kingdom Hearts III would not release any sooner than their 2018 fiscal year.

In July 2017, at the D23 Expo, Square Enix announced the game would be released in 2018. Alongside this announcement was the reveal of a world based on the Pixar film, Toy Story.

On February 10, 2018, a trailer was revealed at the D23 Expo in Japan. This also featured the announcement of a world based off of the Pixar film, Monsters Inc..

On April 10, 2018, another trailer was shown online, featuring a world called Classic Kingdom, in which the mini-games are inspired by the Game & Watch series.

On June 10, 2018, a trailer was shown at Microsoft's E3 2018 Press Conference revealing a world based of of the Disney film, Frozen.

On June 11, 2018, a trailer was shown at Sony's E3 2018 Press Conference revealing the return of Pirates of the Caribbean for Kingdom Hearts III.

On November 10, 2018, a trailer was shown, revealing the return of Winnie the Pooh for Kingdom Hearts III.

On November 20, 2018, it was officially stated that the game development had been completed.

Gameplay

 * The Command Menu from Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II will return.
 * The gauges for Donald and Goofy now appear next to Sora's gauge in the bottom right corner, instead of in the top right corner of the screen.
 * The MP gauge from Kingdom Hearts II will return. A second gauge (labelled "Focus" in the E3 2013 trailer, but "EX" in the E3 2015 trailer), which looks similar to the Drive Gauge, has also been revealed to be the Shotlock Gauge, which is returning from "Birth by Sleep". Keyblade Guns KHIII.png
 * Attraction Flow will be a new feature that lets the party execute skills based on common theme park attractions.
 * The Keyblade will have the ability to transform itself into other specially powered weapons, such as the double bow gun and chariot that can be seen in trailers.
 * Sora will be able to run up walls.
 * Blizzard and Aero magic will be available. Magic will also be able to effect the environment. For example, Blizzard is capable of creating a sheet of ice to slide on.
 * Reaction Commands will not return.
 * Disney characters will join Sora's team as either temporary party members or summons.
 * The AI has been improved, so allies can invite Sora into special techniques, and enemies can work together.
 * The game will contain a secret movie.

Characters and Worlds

 * Characters from the Final Fantasy series will once again appear.
 * Nearly all worlds are new.