Kingdom Hearts III
"Kingdom Hearts III" was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on January 25, 2019 in Japan and other Asian countries, and is scheduled to be released on January 29, 2019 elsewhere. In July 2017, at D23, it was announced that the game would release in 2018. Almost a year later, at an additional performance of the "Kingdom Hearts" Orchestra World Tour in Los Angeles, the game's North American release date was revealed to be January 29, 2019. Nomura spoke to moving the game's release date outside of 2018, stating the development team had been told the original release date they had considered was not "good timing in the year" to release the game, especially considering "differences in holiday lengths and how stores behave in different regions". In addition, Square Enix requested the game be released as simultaneously as possibly between Japan and the rest of the world, and not wanting to move up the release at the expense of development, resulted in the January 2019 date being chosen. The game's epilogue is planned to be added to the game on January 26 for Japan and January 30 elsewhere, while the secret film content is planned to be added worldwide on January 31, 2019. This was done in order to help prevent them from leaking beforehand, since Nomura called them "the biggest spoilers" in the game.
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
In early 2010, Nomura was asked in an interview if Square Enix would release an international "Final Mix" of "Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep," to which he replied he would like to, as he enjoyed the work from the English voice casting done in the previous games. However, he stated that one of the main reasons for the popularity of the "Final Mix" version of "Kingdom Hearts II" was because it was released alongside the PlayStation 2 remake of "Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories", so he and the staff would think on it more. In September 2010, Square Enix announced that "Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix" would be released on January 20, 2011 in Japan. Like all "Final Mix" releases, it combines English audio with Japanese game text and subtitles, and includes all additional features implemented in the Western versions as well as brand new content, such as a new playable secret episode for Aqua, which takes place after the events of the final episode, and also has new cutscenes with dialogue provided by her voice actress Megumi Toyoguchi, which were later dubbed into English by Aqua's english voice actress Willa Holland for the "HD 2.5 Remix" release. The events of the secret episode would tie-in to the later "A Fragmentary Passage" release. Alongside "The 3rd Birthday", "Final Mix" includes a code that allows players to obtain downloadable content for "Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy", with "Final Mix" featuring the character Cloud Strife costume from the original "Kingdom Hearts". "Final Mix" topped the video game charts following its release with 77,317 units sold in the first week, and reaching 106,276 in February 2011. "Final Mix" was released for the first time outside Japan as part of "Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix".