Kingdom Hearts 3 2018 Release Reaffirmed, New Soundtrack Info Revealed

Update: PHI from SERGE has deleted his YouTube and Twitter accounts. Considering he was not officially credited in Kingdom Hearts 2.8, we believe his statements regarding Kingdom Hearts 3 may be false. Everything else remains unchanged.

-----

Kingdom Hearts 3 was pegged for a 2018 release date at D23 this summer, and Square Enix reaffirmed that launch window in a tweet on Wednesday. A prominent Japanese DJ also claims they’ve been contacted by the developer to remix a theme for one of the game’s worlds.

Starting with the topic of release dates, the official Square Enix Twitter account recently took pride in sharing Destructoid’s list of most anticipated 2018 games while mentioning that titles like Kingdom Hearts and Dragon Quest made the cut. This is far from a guarantee of anything, but logic would suggest Square might not want to draw attention to that 2018 date if there was any internal doubt about that target being met. In some ways, the tweet reads like a vote of confidence in the established plan.

That being said, there’s plenty of room for that to change as well. After all, the person in charge of the Square Enix Twitter account may not have much insider knowledge about the development status of high-profile games. Also, even if the current intent is to release Kingdom Hearts 3 in 2018, that could shift in an instant. Despite hosting an entire event to announce that Final Fantasy XV would release on Sept. 30, the game was delayed to Nov. 29 a few months later.

Crackdown 3 over at Microsoft fell victim to a similar fate. A release date of Nov. 7 was announced at E3 2017 and repeatedly reaffirmed by developers. As of this past August, the project now has a vague 2018 arrival target. In other words, this tweet definitely looks good today, but it’s not necessarily a reflection of what we’ll see in the future.

One thing we can mostly guarantee is that Kingdom Hearts 3 will have an awesome soundtrack with series composer Yoko Shimomura at the helm. However, she may be getting a little help this time. Japanese DJ PHI from SERGE, recently told his Twitter followers “2018 has just started and already I have big news!! I was put in charge of remixing the battle theme and field theme for a certain world in Kingdom Hearts 3! I hope you all play the game and check it out!"

While Square Enix hasn’t confirmed the DJ’s involvement, it fits with the developer’s recent habits. PHI has worked with Square before on Kingdom Hearts 2.8 and the various HD remixes, so it’d make sense for him to possibly have a larger role in the third installment. We obviously don’t know what world he’s working on, but maybe this leaked world list can give fans a few clues. Thanks to a tweet from Utada Hikaru’s father, we also strongly believe the staple Kingdom Hearts theme musician is part of the project too.

Some might say this focus on soundtracks at the start of 2018 is possibly a good sign for Kingdom Hearts 3’s development. While individual studio processes vary, music is oftentimes one of the final aesthetic trappings to be considered leading up to a game’s release. Voice recording for Kingdom Hearts 3, however, has oddly taken place across several years. In other words, fans probably shouldn’t read too much into that particular angle.

Kingdom Hearts 3 is planned for release on PS4 and Xbox One in 2018.

Do you think Kingdom Hearts 3 will actually release in 2018? Are these soundtrack developments encouraging? Tell us in the comments section!