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Players who were hoping for a 2017 release for Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII Remake and Kingdom Hearts III may be disappointed.
Speaking to Famitsu, director Tetsuya Nomura gave an update on the development status for both titles and apparently they won’t be launching anytime soon.
We’re steadily progressing on production,” Nomura said (as translated by Gematsu). While we are making them, I apologise that the wait will be be a bit longer for Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy VII Remake. I am very sorry, but to that degree I will make a game that will meet your expectations.”
He added that we should get a glimpse of both titles at some events this year though: Last year, I didn’t put out much information on either title, but this year I want to show our progress at an event somewhere. The release of the titles themselves have still have a way to go. But there are many titles releasing this year, if you can wait for any ‘surprises.’”
And indeed, there’s already plenty of Kingdom Hearts titles to come, with Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue hitting shelves on January 24th and Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 & 2.5 Remix launching on March 31st. And there are also a couple of events to look forward to, Nomura continued: First, we’re releasing Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue in January, then exhibiting a Final Fantasy VII snow sculpture at the Sapporo Snow Festival in February, releasing Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix in March, and starting the Kingdom Hearts orchestra world tour. We may be able to do something for the D23 Disney event. We’re also preparing for the start of Kingdom Hearts Unchained X Season 2.”
As far as Final Fantasy is concerned, Final Fantasy XV has been very successful since launch, becoming the series’ second biggest launch in the UK, behind Final Fantasy XIII. The first expansion for Final Fantasy XIV has also been announced last week: Stormblood will release on June 20th and will introduce a wealth of new features. And for those desperate to have some sort of Final Fantasy VII experience, there’s a Monopoly launching this April.
