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The light novel Kingdom Hearts III, Vol. 1, localized by Yen Press, is set to release on February 18, 2020! It is currently available to pre-order for $14.00 US/$18.50 CAN at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and IndieBound. The first volume of the novel was previously released as GAME NOVELS Kingdom Hearts III Vol.1 Re: Start!! in Japan. You can see its cover below. Since then, the second volume ("GAME NOVELS Kingdom Hearts III Vol.2 New Seven Hearts") has also been published. Upcoming Kingdom Hearts publications by Yen Press also include: Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded (light novel), releasing August 27, 2019 (paperback) Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance The Novel, releasing October 29, 2019 (paperback and eBook) Kingdom Hearts χ (light novel), releasing December 10, 2019 (paperback) Chapter 4 of the Kingdom Hearts III manga is available to read online in Japanese. Yen Press has localized Chapters 0-2, which are available to buy digitally, and will likely release Chapter 3 within the next few weeks.

Guinness World Records will be releasing the "Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2020" this summer and will be recognizing Sora as the character with the most appearances as the hero in Square Enix roleplaying games with a total of 6 games. Sora is also featured on the back cover of the book. You can view it below. Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2020 will be available in stores on August 28th in the UK and September 3rd for North America as well as September 5th for Australia. You can pre-order the book on Amazon by click here (North America), here (UK), or here (Australia).

Square Enix have announced their lineup for Gamescom 2019, and the Olympus and Toy Box demo for Kingdom Hearts III demo is included! Amongst the other video game demos that will be playable at the event are Final Fantasy VII Remake, Final Fantasy XIV Online, and Trials of Mana. For the first time ever, fans will also be able to play a demo for Marvel's Avengers, which is due to release on May 15, 2020, and watch the new trailer for Life is Strange™ 2: Episode 4 ‘Faith’. The Square Enix booth will also showcase merchandise prototypes and offer an open demo space for board games. You can read the press release below. Gamescom, known as the world's largest gaming event, will take place from August 20th to 24th at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany. Attendees can find Square Enix booths in Hall 9 of the venue. “gamescom: Opening Night Live” will be hosted by “The Game Awards” host and creator Geoff Keighley and livestreamed on August 19th at 8:00 PM CEST (2:00 PM EDT and 11:00 a.m. PDT). It will give gamers around a world an overview of what to expect from the event this year, including announcements from major video game publishers and independent developers and world premiers with new footage and guest appearances.

The second part of Kingdom Hearts: VR Experience is now available as an update from the PlayStation Store, and we will be all over it today! KH13 Reporter @KHWaterBlock will be livestreaming the Kingdom Hearts: VR Experience update at 4:30 PM EST on our Youtube channel. Kingdom Hearts: VR Experience (Part II) Livestream Part Two of Kingdom Hearts: VR Experience brings you Olympus Coliseum and battles that require a motion controller. You can also walk down memory lane in Twilight Town and The World That Never Was! Watch below for a little sneak peek... You can watch @KHWaterBlock's livestream of the first part of Kingdom Hearts: VR Experience in the video below!

D23 have announced the D23 Expo offerings that come with the D23 Gold Membership. These include exclusive single-day ticket discounts, a Gold Member lounge, and more when a Gold Member attends the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California on August 23-25 this year. Amongst the offerings is an exclusive collectible print from Disney artist Eric Tan celebrating the 10th anniversary of the official Disney fan club. The print features Mickey Mouse and various memorable characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, The Muppets, and the Disney parks. Fans will be delighted to know that Kingdom Hearts is also being representing Disney in this print! The silhouette of Sora holding his Keyblade can be found between those of Figment the Dragon and Thor. Check it out below! Thanks to @Knuxpyro56 for the tip! For those of you who are Gold Members and attending D23 Expo next month, all you have to do to grab this wonderful keepsake is go to the D23 Gold Member Gift Pick-Up in North Hall, and show your Gold Member card. Here is the full announcement video:

The official Disney Store (Japan) have updated their listings with 7 new Kingdom Hearts products! The Kingdom Hearts Clear File 1 is a set of 4 plastic folders featuring different illustrations from Kingdom Hearts. It costs 540 yen. The Kingdom Hearts Clear File 2 is similar, except the illustrations derive from Kingdom Hearts II. It also costs 540 yen. The "Kingdom Hearts Sticker Set Hologram Envelope File with Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded" features a sparkling file cover with 7 hologram stickers of Kingdom Hearts II and Re:Coded characters. This collection is priced at 1080 yen. There is another Kingdom Hearts Sticker Set, this time featuring cover art and glittery character stickers from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix. It is also priced at 1080 yen. The third Kingdom Hearts Hologram Sticker Set, also costing 1080 yen, features cover art and stickers from Timeless River. The Kingdom Hearts Postcard Set 1 with Envelope File is another sparkly hologram plastic file inclusive of 7 postcards featuring art from the first game. You can buy it for 756 yen. Lastly, you can also buy the Kingdom Hearts Postcard Set 2 for 756 yen. This one will include 7 postcards with art from Kingdom Hearts II. Thanks to @aibo_ac7 for the tip!

A new Kingdom Hearts Scratch Art book is available ro pre-order at the Square Enix Japan e-Store! UPDATE [Jun 28, 2019]: The Kingdom Hearts Scratch Art book is also available to pre-order on Amazon (Japan) and bookstores all over Japan! The Kingdom Hearts Scratch Art is a book that features "scratch art", holographic glitter illustrations that can be uncovered by tracing ("scratching") on the sheets with a pen. The book costs ¥1,900 and will release on September 12, 2019. It will include six illustration on A4 size sheets. The included illustrations are: KINGDOM HEARTS　『予感』 ("Premonition") KINGDOM HEARTS II　『ハート』("Heart") KINGDOM HEARTS III　『王冠』("Crown") KINGDOM HEARTS CHAIN OF MEMORIES　『デッキ』("Deck") KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 days　『追憶』("Remembrance") KINGDOM HEARTS Birth by Sleep　『翔る』("Soar"/"Fly") You can see the cover of the Scratch Art book and the illustrations in our gallery linked below.

The second volume of the Kingdom Hearts III novel, authored by Tomoco Kanemaki and illustrated by Shiro Amano, is now available for pre-order at the Square Enix e-Store (Japan)! It is priced at 800 yen and will release on July 25, 2019. A cover is yet to be released. You can read the description of the novel below. (Thanks to KH13 team member @Mio-chan for the translations!) The first volume of the novel, which released in Japan last March, can be purchased here. UPDATE [Jun 25, 2019]: Square Enix have revealed the cover for the Game Novels Kingdom Hearts III Vol. 2 New Seven Hearts! If purchased from the Square Enix e-Store (Japan), the book will also come with a postcard showcasing the same cover art! You can see the cover art below.

A new Kingdom Hearts III themed umbrella is now available for pre-order at the Square Enix e-Store (Japan)! The umbrella features a crown made of Kingdom Hearts emblems on the outer side, and a monogram pattern on the inside surface. Its handle and the cover it comes with also feature the Kingdom Hearts coat of arms. The product can be used as an umbrella on rainy days and as a parasol on a sunny day to protect one from the sun's UV rays. The umbrella costs 3,240 yen and will release on July 6, 2019. For more information, click here. Below are some pictures of the product. AitaiKuji is also offering a pre-order of this product for customers outside of Japan.

New story quests, quests 881-885, have been added to the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross]. You can now enjoy the translations thanks to Everglow, who has produced the video below, and Catherine Mueller, who has provided the translations! You can support Everglow's Patreon here.

A new costume for the character Squall Leonhart will be available in Dissidia Final Fantasy NT on June 5, 2019; the outfit is the same as the one he wears in Kingdom Hearts, and his weapon, the gunblade, seems to resemble the Sleeping Lion Keyblade first introduced in Kingdom Hearts II. This new outfit will be available on June 5th and 6th for Steam and PlayStation 4 respectively.

Square Enix have published their Financial Results statement for the fiscal year ending March 2019. According to this report, their net digital entertainment sales have amounted to ¥204,596 million* (6.9% more than the previous fiscal year) thanks to the release of new titles on home video game consoles, such as Kingdom Hearts III, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Just Cause 4. However, profits have decreased due to the various expenses incurred in producing new games. Overall, Square Enix's operating income on digital entertainment this year was ¥29,062 million* (33.1% less than the previous year). The total sales for the company for the year ending March 2019 was ¥271,048 million* (8.2% more than the previous year). The total operating income was ¥24,531 million* (35.7% less than the previous year); their ordinary income amounted to ¥28,312 million* (21.6% less than the previous year). The statement also summarised the developments in sales and profits made on other categories of video game titles. The sales of many titles for smart devices and PC, released in the first half of this fiscal year and in the prior fiscal year, fell below expectations and failed to generate additional revenue on top of that from existing games. The net sales and operating income also decreased this year due to the decrease in licensing revenue. Net sales and operating income from online multiplayer games also decreased, but recurring subscription revenue remained brisk. Based on these results, the year-end dividend forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019, has been reduced from 43 yen to 37 yen. For the next fiscal year (April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020), sales are expected to amount to ¥270 billion (0.4% less than the previous term), operating income to be ¥24 billion (2.2% less than the previous term), and ordinary income to be ¥24 billion (15.2% less than the previous term). UPDATE [May 13, 2019]: One of the strategies proposed at the briefing session to achieve mid-term goals to expand recurring income included maximizing earnings by deepening user engagement with offering various contents of major existing IP. Reporter Takashi Mochizuki reports that Kingdom Hearts III has sold high numbers, and that Square Enix is aiming to expand its sales via DLC. More figures and information can be found here. *Please note that these figures have been rounded to the nearest 1 million yen.

You can now download Kingdom Hearts III manga wallpapers for desktop and smartphone from the Square Enix website for free! The Kingdom Hearts III manga is currently being serialized in Monthly Shonen Gangan, with Chapter 0 available to read online. Chapter 1 will release on May 23 (JST). Thanks to @RedMakuzawa for the tip!

DisFunko, a popular and verified source for all new Funko, have revealed E3 2019 exclusives Sora (Lion Form) Pop! and Donald Duck POP+PEZ! You can see them below. The original tweet follows. E3 2019 will take place from June 11 to June 13 at the Los Angeles Convention Centre. Funko have also announced a new line of Hot Topic-exclusive Funko POP! Kingdom Hearts tees. Check them out here! UPDATE (June 12th, 2019): Funko POP! Kingdom Hearts Sora (Lion Form) and POP! Pez Donald Duck are now available at GameStop! Sora (Lion Form) is set for a price of $15,00 and Donald Pez will cost $4.99.

The recent 1.04 and 1.05 updates for Kingdom Hearts III have brought changes to the game, such as changes in enemy AI, increased album storage to 200 photos, Frozen's Slider mini-game prizes appearing on the Gummiphone, check marks on synthesized items, and some bugs fixed. But the most important update was the addition of the Critical Mode, the highest level of difficulty known in the series. Tai Yasue, the co-director of Kingdom Hearts III, has recently been interviewed in-house at Square Enix about the new Critical Mode update for the game. He talks about what has been changed in the highest difficulty mode now available for Kingdom Hearts III, what new things have been added, and has given his top tips to survive the Mode as well as how to challenge yourself to the fullest. Give it a read below! As Yasue mentioned, in this new Critical mode, Sora's maximum HP and MP are halved. In addition to this, the frequency of situation commands and magic is also lowered. The new abilities that Sora can perform are the following: Critical Converter (1 AP) — “Green attraction indicators no longer appear, but filling the gauge always produces a formchange command. Indicators may still appear for certain battles.” Critical Counter (5 AP) — “Deal extra damage with reprisals by blocking right before an enemy attack lands.” Critical Recharge (3 AP) — “Fill situation command gauges more quickly while recharging MP.” Keyblades that are carried over will return to their base strength, but through this optional feature, players can utilize Keyblades otherwise not obtained until later in the game from the beginning. Another change that have been brought by the new updates is the addition of the Proof of Promise and the Proof of Times Past in the inventory." The Proof of Promise is described as “a certificate for those who have collected all of the luck from worlds over.” You can earn it by collecting photos of all 90 Lucky Emblems. The Proof of Times Past is described as “a certificate awarded to those who have endured the most difficult trial of them all," which you can earn when clearing the game on Critical Mode. Thanks to KH13 Staff and Contributor @Delenn Deszcz and @Chainoffire for contributing to this article!

According to data assembled by NPD, North American sales of Kingdom Hearts III have exceeded the sales of any other games in the series, making in the best-selling game in the franchise in the country since the first game released in September 2002. Kingdom Hearts III has also been ranked the best-selling game of 2019 in the United States for the period ending March 2019. In Japan, Kingdom Hearts III has sold over 795,473 copies, and seems to be the best-selling game of 2019 in the country so far. Back in February, Kingdom Hearts III became the fastest selling game in the series, with over 5 million copies shipped in its first week of international release. Click here to read more statistics on the game!

Following last month's announcement of an official Kingdom Hearts III manga series by returning artist Shiro Amano, the "next issue notice" of Square Enix's magazine Monthly Shonen Gangan reveals that its serialization will start from April 24, 2019 (JST)! Fans will be able to read the "prologue" chapter this week on Square Enix's web magazine Gangan Online. UPDATE [Apr 23, 2019]: The first few pages will be in color. The manga will be serialized in the Monthly Shonen Gangan magazine as well as appearing on Gangan Online. Thanks to KH13 Staff @sololonlon for translations! UPDATE [Apr 25, 2019]: The serialization of the Kingdom Hearts III manga has been delayed to April 29, 2019. You can see images from the announcement and Gangan Online archives below.