Kingdom Hearts III Finally Has a Release Date

The wait is over! Well, almost. Square Enix revealed today that Kingdom Hearts III finally has a release date. The third major installment in the franchise has been a long time coming, and the news was, rightfully, met with much-deserved excitement from fans.

The announcement may seem a little pre-mature, given that Square Enix has its own E3 2018 keynote on June 11th. However, director Tetsuya Nomura decided to reveal the date ahead the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra World Tour, and apologized the team is taking a little more time than they’d initially planned.

While it’s been twelve (almost thirteen) years since the release of Kingdom Hearts II on the PlayStation 2, the development of Kingdom Hearts III actually wasn’t confirmed until E3 2013, when Square Enix showed a teaser trailer at Sony’s press conference. There have been numerous Kingdom Hearts games to release over the years on various platforms, but this next installment is a direct sequel to the second game, and will finally wrap up Sora and Co.’s main story line.

Last year at D23, Square Enix revealed that a tentative release date for the title was scheduled for some time in 2018, but even then, nothing was set in stone. Since that D23 event, we’ve gotten a solid look at some new worlds that will be featured in the game, like San Fransokyo (Big Hero 6) and Kingdom of Coronoa (Tangled). Along with these worlds, we’ve seen new Disney characters and new styles of gameplay.

While there are some a few new changes fan can expect in Kingdom Hearts III, just based on the teaser clips and trailers that Square Enix has revealed over the years, it looks like the game has the same charm and adventure that have made the other games in the franchise so beloved.

Kingdom Hearts III is scheduled for release on January 29, 2019 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.