Kingdom Hearts III director Tetsuya Nomura has announced that he’s reconsidering whether or not to do simultaneous worldwide releases for his future games. This decision comes as a result of Kingdom Hearts III leaking outside Japan, an incident that Nomura does not wish to see happen again with other titles.
In an interview with Famitsu, which was translated by Siliconera, Nomura confirms that only four copies of Kingdom Hearts III leaked prior to the game’s official release. “That being said,” he continued, “the only thing that really disappointed me about everything is that it brought sad thoughts to people who were looking forward to Kingdom Hearts III. The risk is higher with simultaneous worldwide releases, and because of this incident I can’t help but reconsider what I’ll do for my next games, including simultaneous worldwide releases of physical copies at the very least.”
Kingdom Hearts III is already out in Japan, but the game releases for the rest of the world next week. The practice of two release dates is not unheard of, with many past Japanese developed games releasing in their native country just prior to a worldwide release. However, if a title’s release dates are close together–like how it is for Kingdom Hearts III–then the game typically ships out to worldwide distributors all at once. In these instances, miscommunication can cause international copies to leak before they’re supposed to officially release. In order to avoid that, some developers release their games staggered, with different launch dates that are separated by anywhere from several weeks to a few months.
If you’re on the fence about picking up Kingdom Hearts III, consider reading our review. Tamoor Hussain gave the game an 8/10, calling the game “enjoyable, if uneven” and promoting its combat and diverse worlds while criticizing how its preoccupation with fan service occasionally bogs down the story and lore.
Kingdom Hearts III releases worldwide on January 29 for Xbox One and PS4.
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