News ► IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6's absence

[Sign]

In an interview with IGN, Tetsuya Nomura explained the reason behind KINGDOM HEARTS 3’s delay and why Big Hero 6 has been absent since the world was confirmed at D23 Expo 2015.

Although it was assumed that the delay was caused by development issues, the real reason was because of poor timing. After speaking with various hardware manufacturers, marketing and sales teams, they realized their original release date just wasn't set in a good time period. With considerations to holidays, store management and schedules in other territories, and requests for a simultaneous worldwide release, they decided to figure out some alternatives.

They did consider speeding up to accommodate an earlier release, but the development team determined that it wasn't feasible. If they are to make Kingdom Hearts 3 the absolute best it can be, the only option would be to delay the game. It may only be by an extra month or two, but this extra time allows them to continue refining the game until its release on January 29, 2019.

Nomura also addressed the absence of Big Hero 6 despite the world having been announced almost 3 years ago. The reason for this is that it simply isn't far enough along yet to make a proper reveal. Although they have since completed all of the gameplay elements within San Fransokyo, the cutscenes are still a work in progress.

Read the full interview on IGN.

 

[Zettaflare]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6�s absence

Yeesh, even after three years San Fransokyo is still not at a showable state. We probably won't see it for a couple more months lol.

 

[Sdog]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6’s absence

Honestly fine with this delay. Yes it sucks not having it as soon as possible but the pros greatly outweigh the cons. Greatly lowered chances of spoilers from Japan, finely tuned gameplay, and the fact it won't have to compete with pretty much any AAA at this point, are all fine by me.

And yeah, BH6 ain't showing up till TGS at the earliest if cutscenes still aren't presentable. Maybe even Jump Festa or TGAs. But who knows?

 

[Zettaflare]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6’s absence

I brought this up a few weeks ago, but why did they announce Big Hero 6 so early? Why not have it be the last world revealed since it was the last world chosen? I'm sure you could have had another Disney world in its place back in 2015.

 

[Sdog]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6’s absence

I brought this up a few weeks ago, but why did they announce Big Hero 6 so early? Why not have it be the last world revealed since it was the last world chosen? I'm sure you could have had another Disney world in its place back in 2015.

Same reason KH3 was announced 5 1/2 years before it's release. Hype. Lol. BH6 was Disney's most recent hit at the time too no? Made sense to them at the time.

 

[Leaferian]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6’s absence

I brought this up a few weeks ago, but why did they announce Big Hero 6 so early? Why not have it be the last world revealed since it was the last world chosen? I'm sure you could have had another Disney world in its place back in 2015.

My understanding was Disney specifically requested the announcement. SE had only just decided on all the worlds, and the request was so last minute that they only had time to prepare the single piece of artwork in the OP and a vague blurb about the story path. If I recall correctly, Big Hero 6 was about to see the last of its physical releases in certain regions and was at the height of popularity, and Disney wanted to capitalize on that to generate hype for both KH3 and BH6.

 

[Chaser]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6’s absence

I brought this up a few weeks ago, but why did they announce Big Hero 6 so early? Why not have it be the last world revealed since it was the last world chosen? I'm sure you could have had another Disney world in its place back in 2015.

Senior marketing manager at Square Enix said they were excited to get the world and see the artwork that they just had to promote it.

 

[DizneyXBirds95]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6�s absence

Yeesh, even after three years San Fransokyo is still not at a showable state. We probably won't see it for a couple more months lol.

The same would apply to the Tangled world when it was announced 3 years ago but was withheld for almost 3 years as Nomura and the Team had issues in developing Rapunzel's hair movement and gameplay.

I find it interesting that even though Tangled and Big Hero 6 were the first new Disney worlds announced for the game, they we're witheld for three straight years until year, which would explain why we have been seeing mostly gameplay footage of Olympus and Twilight Town.

 

[notnow123487]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6�s absence

Yeesh, even after three years San Fransokyo is still not at a showable state. We probably won't see it for a couple more months lol.

It’s in a showable state because he said the gameplay is done. They just don’t want to show it without cutscenes at this point in development. The game is so close to release you can’t just show gameplay anymore like they could three years ago.

 

[UltimaXOmega]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6’s absence

Big Hero 6 needs to impress.

 

[raccoonscity]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6’s absence

I figured this in regards to BH6's absence but I'm glad he's actually saying it instead of keeping us in the dark.

Yeesh, even after three years San Fransokyo is still not at a showable state. We probably won't see it for a couple more months lol.

They were working on everything else in the game as well. I believe it was also in the "third tier" of worlds, meaning it's among the last in the game as well as not being as far in development, which is why they aren't ready to show the cutscenes.

I'm sure they'll give us a trailer dedicated to it when they can, however.

 

[ImVentus]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6’s absence

I appreciate that he talks about the delay and lack of BH6.

My theory is that they had trouble creating such a vast and detailed city. I believe they were striving to make it feel the biggest and most complex. Here's hoping that San Fransokyo doesn't feature as many invisible walls and more free running, exploring outside of borders.

 

[2 quid is good]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6’s absence

Well, we really do have a packed winter 2018, and they definitely want to make the most of KH3. I'm sure it would have done fairly well if it dropped in 2018 but a month is more than fine. I'm kind of glad it's mainly a marketing thing though, it bodes well for the game.

Still doesn't explain the 4 day gap but it's whatever I guess. I have to live with it

 

[Darkspawn]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6’s absence

I appreciate that he talks about the delay and lack of BH6.

My theory is that they had trouble creating such a vast and detailed city. I believe they were striving to make it feel the biggest and most complex. Here's hoping that San Fransokyo doesn't feature as many invisible walls and more free running, exploring outside of borders.

I don’t think they had trouble with it necessarily. I think it was just the last world on the roster, so they’re still getting those cutscenes polished.

It’s going to feel so cool running up these buildings and such. I think it’ll almost be reminiscent of a Spider-Man game in that regard.

 

[Elysium]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6’s absence

At least we now have confirmation the delay had nothing to do with development. I'm not sure how January 29th is considered a marketable release date. I'm expecting it to get delayed again if that was the only reason for the first one.

 

[luuizhenriquem]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6�s absence

Well, we really do have a packed winter 2018, and they definitely want to make the most of KH3. I'm sure it would have done fairly well if it dropped in 2018 but a month is more than fine. I'm kind of glad it's mainly a marketing thing though, it bodes well for the game.

Still doesn't explain the 4 day gap but it's whatever I guess. I have to live with it

The 4 day gap is simply to please the Japanese fandom, they always get the game first... lol

At least we now have confirmation the delay had nothing to do with development. I'm not sure how January 29th is considered a marketable release date. I'm expecting it to get delayed again if that was the only reason for the first one.

I don't think we will get another delay... I like to think that if they wasn't certain about the January release they would just put like the "Coming 2019" and not an actual date

 

[Alpha Baymax]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6’s absence

Big Hero 6 needs to impress.

Judging by the backdrop assets of the movie, that's going to be easy to accomplish. Big Hero 6 is the most geographically sophisticated property to be in this game, so I'm not all that surprised that it's more painstakingly difficult to be in a presentable state.

 

[Zettaflare]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6’s absence

I have a sneaking suspicion a lot of important plot elements will be happening in this world.

At least we now have confirmation the delay had nothing to do with development. I'm not sure how January 29th is considered a marketable release date. I'm expecting it to get delayed again if that was the only reason for the first one.

How is January 29 not a marketable release? And if the game is finished over the next seven months why would they delay it further?

 

[Fatal Mode]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6�s absence

At least we now have confirmation the delay had nothing to do with development. I'm not sure how January 29th is considered a marketable release date. I'm expecting it to get delayed again if that was the only reason for the first one.

Monster hunter world released around then this year and was Capcoms highest selling game to date! It’s a good time of year with usually low levels of competition!

 

[luuizhenriquem]

Re: IGN: Why Kingdom Hearts 3 was delayed and Big Hero 6’s absence

Anyways thank god the delay was due to horrible timing and not due to production delays lol