Goofy Says ‘Kingdom Hearts III’ Is Due Out This Year, Square Enix Calls It A Goof
Kingdom Hearts III is one of the most anticipated games for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Development of the Disney meets Japanese RPG game recently went through some changes though, which is probably why the internet went nuts when Bill Farmer, the voice actor of Goofy, claimed that Kingdom Hearts III was releasing this year.
Farmer was responding to fan questions via his Twitter account, when one asked if Kingdom Hearts 3 was coming this year.
“That’s what they keep telling me!” he came back with in the now deleted Tweet (via NeoGAF).
This created a small firestorm of excited articles and forum posts on the gaming corner of the internet about the possibility of Kingdom Hearts III launching in 2015. It’s understandable too. That Square Enix franchise combined with Final Fantasy XV would make for a fantastic year for JRPG lovers. Alas, it was not to be.
The PR folks at Square Enix quickly got their game on to respond to the sudden flurry of questions from media and fans. A single Square Enix USA Tweet probably covers it best though.
There was a Goof! The release date for @KINGDOMHEARTS III remains unannounced.
— SQUARE ENIX USA (@SquareEnixUSA) January 8, 2015
Farmer was also brought on board as he deleted the offending Tweet and posted the following in its place.
The release date for Kingdom Hearts Three has not been announced yet! — Bill Farmer (@GoofyBill) January 8, 2015
It’s entirely possible that Farmer simply got the question about Kingdom Hearts III mixed up with one of the other Kingdom Hearts game that he is working on. The Disney Legend voice actor provides voices of not only Goofy, but Pluto and Horace Horsecollar, among others. Square Enix is also currently working on Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD ReMix, which is due out later this year.
As for Kingdom Hearts III, Creative Director Tetsuya Nomura revealed just three months ago that development was moved to the Unreal Engine 4 game engine. He claimed that the change would not hinder the game’s development. That seems unlikely at first glance, as time has to be spent learning the new game engine and moving existing assets over and making sure they work.
A 2015 release for Kingdom Hearts III could still happen, but it would be surprising at this point. Final Fantasy XV does not have a release date either, so it seems that Square Enix is taking a wait and see approach to the development of both titles.
[Images via Square Enix, NeoGAF]
