'Kingdom Hearts 3' won't be in players' hands until 2018

Screenshot from the promo of "Kingdom Hearts 3""Kingdom Hearts" website

It has been more than a decade since the release of "Kingdom Hearts 2" and fans have been waiting for its sequel to be released. Fans were expecting a 2017 release of "Kingdom Hearts 3" but with recent news, it seems they may have to wait a bit longer.

At the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2013 (E3), Square Enix confirmed they were creating "Kingdom Hearts 3." There have been several spinoff games prior to the announcement exploring the stories of side characters released by the game developer, but none developed the main Sora storyline in the first and second "Kingdom Hearts."

More details about "Kingdom Hears 3" were released at the E3 events in the following years. The trailer that came out in 2014 revealed the main plot of the game, while the one released in 2015 gave a peek into a new setting — Rapunzel's tower. In 2016, another game trailer was unveiled at JumpFesta; it gave spectators an inside look on what type of fighting they should expect from the game.

A recent investor document from Square Enix was released, showcasing several games the developer plans to release in the upcoming years. "Kingdom Hearts 3" was part of that list and was put in the "2018 and beyond" category. This concludes that "KH3" is still being developed and Square Enix is not yet ready to give a set date on when it will be launched.

In an earlier interview with Famitsu (via Gematsu), director Tetsuya Nomura expressed his apologies regarding the delay of the release of "Kingdom Hearts 3."

"We're steadily progressing on production... I am very sorry, but to that degree I will make a game that will meet your expectations," he said. Nomura also mentioned that their progress with the game would be shown "at an event somewhere" sometime this year. 

"Kingdom Hearts 3" will be available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Meanwhile, it has yet to be confirmed whether or not it will be available for the Nintendo Switch.