'Kingdom Hearts 3' release date not until next year; what to expect

"Kingdom Hearts 3""Kingdom Hearts III" official website

"Kingdom Hearts 3" is another one of Square Enix's games that fans have been itching to get their hands on.

Unfortunately, Square Enix has made very few details known about the game itself, and that includes its actual release date.

Earlier on, rumors about the adventure game possibly being released this year began to circulate after an Amazon listing for it was spotted online.

According to the listing, Square Enix and Disney's crossover effort would be released on Dec. 31 of this year, but that may not actually be true.

At this point, it looks as though the Dec. 31 is nothing more than just a placeholder set by Amazon. There are even other listings for other Square Enix titles such as "Final Fantasy 15" and the "Final Fantasy 7 Remake" that are also tagged with the Dec. 31 launch date.

"Final Fantasy 15" is currently expected to make its debut around the summer of this year, while the "Final Fantasy 7 Remake" is not rumored to arrive until around 2018, thus making the Dec. 31 launch date for both titles seemingly inaccurate, and that is likely also the case for "Kingdom Hearts 3."

With Square Enix also focused on launching other games this year, they may not have time to work on "Kingdom Hearts 3" as much as they would like, thus making a launch taking place perhaps even in 2017 more likely.

Even if fans will have to wait a bit longer for the next installment of the "Kingdom Hearts" franchise, the game's director, Tetsuya Nomura, has hinted that there are new features that may make the wait worth it.

In an interview with Engadget, Nomura revealed that the upcoming game will be featuring worlds that are larger than those that have been found in earlier titles from the franchise.

Nomura has also hinted that the new game will feature shorter loading times in order to help improve the playing experience.

More details about "Kingdom Hearts 3" should be made available later on in the year.