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Square Enix France has announced that Kingdom Hearts III will be amongst the titles that will be playable at Japan Expo 2018 in Paris, France! This will be the first time a demo for the game is brought to Europe. Japan Expo Paris 2018 will take place from July 5 to 8 at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center in Paris, France. Click here for more information about the event. Thanks to Pop Bastion for the tip!

Square Enix’s 38th Shareholders’ Meeting took place on June 22, 2018, in Tokyo at 10 am JST, where Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda, along with executives such as Shinji Hashimoto spoke and answered questions regarding the company’s plans for the future. One recurring topic was the importance of digital sales for the company. Matsuda said that the promotion of digital sales will lead to better earnings for the next year and beyond. In regards to difficulties establishing digital sales in Japan, Matsuda said that, in terms of numbers, quite a large number of customers have recently purchased games digitally. As digital brings convenience to the customer, they will be more likely to get the next purchase digitally as well, and so on. “Our site is very convenient in terms of finding a game,” he remarked. “When you want to play old games, it is more convenient [to buy it digitally] than going to a second-hand shop, and you can find it from the list.” He said proceeding with the renovation of sales websites is important for the company, including overseas. Square Enix will also be promoting an app development soon. In the Investor Relations conference that proceeded, he also said there are plans for specific services to increase user engagement to be offered to holders of Square Enix accounts, which they are trying to promote in many ways in Japan, Europe, and the United States as this is important towards increasing digital sales. When asked about how to put incentives in multi-platform deployment, Matsuda said, “We are considering making the content suitable for each platform.” The Investor Relations conference started at 11.30 am JST, where many titles from E3 2018, including Kingdom Hearts III, were featured in a 19-minute introductory video. Here, Matsuda talked about having plans to work positively towards smartphone MMOs, whose market is becoming increasingly popular, especially in China and Korea, with new users coming in. Kingdom Hearts series executive producer Shinji Hashimoto also answered a question regarding Kingdom Hearts' presence in the Disney parks in light of their expansions. Hashimoto said that since he’s been in charge of Kingdom Hearts in 1997, it has been part of a Japanese dream to play something Japanese creators have created with Disney. However, even after having reached that milestone, and even though he would like to see Kingdom Hearts in Disneyland, its inclusion in Disney parks might prove to be unfavorable due to Disney’s stronger, bigger, and more popular IPs (such as Frozen and Star Wars) overshadowing it. “However, as [Kingdom Hearts’] ratings at Disney are increasing, I want to talk about that part,” he said, expressing his interest in connecting with and reaching out to Disney. He also observed that sales in Disneyland contribute to the expansion of their customer base, implying it could be beneficial to Kingdom Hearts if it were to be introduced to the parks. Thanks to KH13 Staff Mio-chan for the translations, and thanks to the original reporter, Suzuki, for the reports and for clarifications regarding Hashimoto’s statements! Do you think there is a possibility of seeing Kingdom Hearts attractions in the Disney Parks? Let us know in the comments!

The blog Hokanko(Alt) has published a summary of the interview that Dengeki PlayStation has had with Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura. This interview is to be published on the next issue of the magazine, which will release on June 28 (JST). Below is the full summary as peovided by the blog. Translations are thanks to @Keytotruth. Frozen was planned to be a world pretty early in development. It follows the movie pretty closely, and Sora's story proceeds as Elsa's and Anna's move on. The Keyblade from the world of Frozen transforms you so you have shoes for skating. Elsa and everyone else don't join your team, but Marshmallow will offer your his help. For Pirates of the Caribbean, Nomura wanted to experiment with different graphics. Sora in a pirate suit is something Nomura really wanted to do. This world made it in because he wanted at least one live action film to be in the game. While the story does take place during the third movie, there are also elements from the second one. There are a lot of gimmicks since you can move through land, sea and air. The Keyblade becomes a lance and a flag. Nomura thinks they'll be able to show the world of Big Hero 6 next time. Sugar Rush will be a Link Command as they announced. Also, there's the minigame called "Remy's Delicious Restaurant". The reason why they showed the worlds of Hercules and Toy Story in the media/E3 demo was because they are the ones closest to completion. Some impressions that theythey rece about the trial were about the camera. They are going to work on that until the last day. This time [for this game], making everything from scratch was really tough. The difficulty for the demodwas slightly easier than "Standard mode", but a little bit harder than "Beginner mode". The powering up of each character is something similar to how they powered up from KH1 to KH2. The director and staff from Einhänder are the ones working on the Gummi Ship portion. Nomura really liked their work, so he's looking forward to the finished product. There is a Combat specialized mode and an exploration mode. You could say it's an open world Gummi Ship. They will talk about Gummi Ship customization the next time. The order you visit worlds in is decided up to a certain degree. This time, there is no such thing as skippable worlds. This is because most people didn't see all of them in the previous games. Right now there are no online capabilities, but they're thinking of adding something. At this moment they're not looking into making any demo. Information related to the New Organization XIII will be revealed as we move towards the release. After some incident Aqua... (Note: This part is ambiguous, but it might mean that we see Aqua as she is in the trailers after a certain incident.) If you play both KHIII and Union Cross, Nomura thinks you'll end up understanding Marluxia. Since this will be the time for "everyone to settle things up", many characters from the series will make appearance. They got the new song from Utada Hikaru really early on. After giving her an explanation about the series and its contents, she made the song herself. The special edition PS4 Pro was decided very early on. In order to find the ideal color, it was redone many times. It will be covered with leather. The controller will also be a new type with flashing lights on top of the touchpad with a custom design. Nomura would like you to play the previous KH games and KHUx as you wait. There's also the problem where we might be running out of space, so Nomura would like you to get connected to the internet in case they distribute online content. KHIII's release is being prioritised over the promotion of FFVII Remake. Stay up to date with KH13.com as we will be covering Dengeki PlayStation’s Kingdom Hearts III feature tomorrow! UPDATE [Jun 27, 2018]: Dengeki PlayStation Vol. 665 has released and includes an 8-pages Kingdom Hearts III feature! You can take a look at the scans below. UPDATE [Jul 2, 2018]: Full translation of the Nomura interview is now available here! Please note that the original translations might differ from the ones above that have been reported by Hokanko(Alt). We will be translating the full interview with Nomura found in this issue, so keep an eye on our website and follow us on Twitter for updates!

Fans have started to get their hands on Utada Hikaru's newest studio album "Hatsukoi" in stores in Japan, one day prior to its official release! It is still on pre-order on iTunes (Japan) however, for release on June 27. The fourth track of this album is "Chikai" ("Oath"), the theme song for Kingdom Hearts III. (Note that this cannot be purchased on iTunes independently; it comes with the full album.) Find more information about the album and where to purchase it from here. While the song is not yet on a streaming service outside of Japan, we have found a video on Youtube from user @yuuna_kisaragi who has recorded the full version of Chikai as played at the Kingdom Hearts III promotional campaign at Shinjuku Station. You can watch it below. UPDATE [Jun 26, 2018]: User Viet Tran has uploaded the full version of Chikai on YouTube, and has pinned it's lyrics in romaji and English. You can listen to it below. UPDATE [Jun 26, 2018]: Utada Hikaru talks about Kingdom Hearts in this interview. Thanks to @Mio-chan for the translations. UPDATE [Jun. 27, 2018]: Hikaru Utada’s new album is out now! It features the Japanese version of the Kingdom Hearts III theme song "Chikai" (named "Don’t Think Twice" in English). You can buy the album on iTunes here! UPDATE [Jun. 27, 2018]: New tweets on @UTADABLOG about Chris Dave, which gave some insights on the production of Chikai/Don't Think Twice and the help he gave Utada to make the song succeed: Tell us what you think of the song so far while we wait for Don't Think Twice!

Famitsu recently interviewed Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura at E3 2018, who talked about topics such as gameplay elements of Arendelle and The Caribbean and the upcoming release of the Kingdom Hearts III recap videos in Japanese this month. He also talked about the possibility of a public demo release for Kingdom Hearts III. (Translations are courtesy of @Keytotruth.) What are your thought on there not being any plans for a Kingdom Hearts III demo release? Do you think the Olympus and/or Toy Box demo will be available at other gaming conventions apart from TGS 2018? Let us know in the comments! Kingdom Hearts III releases on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on January 25, 2019 in Japan, and January 29, 2019 to the rest of the world. You can now watch the latest Frozen trailer, Square Enix E3 Showcase trailer, and Pirates of the Caribbean trailer!

Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura has recently been interviewed by Famitsu at E3 2018, where he talked about many topics, including the gameplay of the worlds of Arendelle and The Caribbean, how to make use of Situation Commands, and the seven Princesses of Heart. You can read his remarks from the interview below. (Translations have been provided by KH13 Staff Mio-chan, and @keytotruth.) Furthermore, he mentioned that there are no plans for a Kingdom Hearts III demo release: read all about it here. Are you excited to use Situation Commands in Kingdom Hearts III? Who do you think the new Princesses of Heart are (apart from Kairi)? Comment your thoughts below! Kingdom Hearts III releases on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on January 25, 2019 in Japan, and January 29, 2019 to the rest of the world. You can now watch the latest Frozen trailer, Square Enix E3 Showcase trailer, and Pirates of the Caribbean trailer!

Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura spoke with The Verge at E3 2018 to discuss the upcoming Kingdom Hearts III. He spoke about his own confusion while writing the story for the game, the inclusion of Final Fantasy characters, his feelings towards Sora's character and the pressure he feels with Kingdom Hearts III. Below you can find his quotes from the interview. What were your impressions of this interview? Were you shocked about Nomura's feelings towards Sora versus Xehanort? Do you agree or disagree with him? Let us know in the comments! Kingdom Hearts III releases on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on January 25, 2019 in Japan, and January 29, 2019 to the rest of the world. You can now watch the latest Frozen trailer, Square Enix E3 Showcase trailer, and Pirates of the Caribbean trailer!

The website Mobile01 has recently published an article containing remarks made by Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura during his visit at E3 2018. Some of his main statements in the article include the following: An explanation of why Kingdom Hearts III has been in production for a long time, where Nomura indicated that about a year after the game begun development, they received the company's internal decision of needing to switch the game's engine. This also allowed [T/N: in this context they probably meant "forced" or "made"] the initial/previously developed contents of the game to be dropped (but not all). Another major reason was the company's internal organization and personnel changes, which also contributed to the delay of the start of the game's development; but overall there is no delay of the game's development and production. Fans that are new to the series can still play and understand the story of Kingdom Hearts III due to the inclusion of some key cutscenes to help better understand the premise of the story. A recap/summary video of the story preceding Kingdom Hearts III in Japanese has been completed, and will be announced soon. As for Frozen, since Elsa is a considerably well-known/famous character, Nomura will be incredibly cautious/attentive with her in the game. The game will largely follow the movie's original narrative and the world will be adapted to fit the game's features. In the recently released Pirates of the Caribbean trailer, a plethora of newly-added movement mechanisms can be seen that the player can make use of. The Black Pearl's main function is to move around the world; however, it has only one application in the actual gameplay - its combat system. It does not really create a special transportation system for players to utilize otherwise. (T/N: As the text states that combat is the ship's only application, this may imply that the player doesn't use it to move around the world; it may be moving without the player's input.) While not much can be revealed at the time, there will still be many new original worlds in Kingdom Hearts III. (This was also reported by GameInformer.) In Kingdom Hearts III, many characters will be showing up, and Nomura wishes that the fans will look foward to it. When asked about whether IPs such as Star Wars and The Avengers by Marvel could appear in Kingdom Hearts, Nomura said that although they both now belong to Disney, none of the characters are Disney original characters, so adding them in would be troublesome and thus unlikely. Translations have been provided by KH13's KHUχ Team Leader faemarch. Special thanks to Protoplasm_png and chirithies for their in-depth translations! Kingdom Hearts III releases on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on January 25, 2019 in Japan, and January 29, 2019 to the rest of the world. You can now watch the latest Frozen trailer, Square Enix E3 Showcase trailer, and Pirates of the Carribean trailer! Follow our coverage of Kingdom Hearts III at E3 2018 here, and our live updates on our Twitter!

In an article written by Engadget's Nick Summers, he reviewed his experience of playing Kingdom Hearts III and connecting his commentary with remarks made by Tetsuya Nomura, Kingdom Hearts series director, at E3 2018. For instance, Nomura commented on expanding the gameplay dynamics of Kingdom Hearts III to add more verticality to it. He also talked about the reason behind adding Attractions to Kingdom Hearts III. While admiring just how close the world of Toy Box seemed to be to the real one created by Pixar, Summers added in a comment Nomura made about how the development team has tried to achieve the sense of stepping right into a movie with the worlds in Kingdom Hearts III. Nomura also acknowledged Roxas, whose character has been often brought up in Kingdom Hearts III trailers in the scene with Xemnas and Ansem (Seeker of Darkness) in Twilight Town, both in the past and recently, and in the Square Enix E3 Showcase 2013 Trailer when Ienzo explains that Roxas's full data was needed to complete the data version of Twilight Town. Nomura said: Kingdom Hearts III releases on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on January 25, 2019 in Japan, and January 29, 2019 to the rest of the world. You can now watch the latest Frozen trailer, Square Enix E3 Showcase trailer, and Pirates of the Caribbean trailer! Follow our coverage of Kingdom Hearts III at E3 2018, and keep an eye on our Twitter for live updates!

Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura recently spoke to IGN about topics such as Kingdom Hearts III's delay and the development of the Big Hero 6 world. Similar what he said to GameInformer about DLC in Kingdom Hearts III, he also said he would like to add something to make fans play it a bit longer. One possible DLC Nomura pointed to was the customizable outfit mechanic that was present in Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-. In regards to the possibility of bringing the Kingdom Hearts HD ReMIXes to Xbox One, Nomura stated: Kingdom Hearts III releases on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on January 25, 2019 in Japan, and January 29, 2019 to the rest of the world. You can now watch the latest Frozen trailer, Square Enix E3 Showcase trailer, and Pirates of the Caribbean trailer! Follow our coverage of Kingdom Hearts III at E3 2018 here, and our live updates on our Twitter!