Kingdom Hearts 3 is a game that has been at the top of many lists for most anticipated games for a number of years now. Kingdom Hearts 2 launched all the way back in 2005, and though there have been several spinoffs in the interim, the wait for a proper sequel has nonetheless been intolerable. Originally announced back in 2013, Kingdom Hearts 3 only finished development little over a month ago, and is now less than a month away from launch.
So what caused the team over at Square Enix to take so long with the game’s development? Well, according to co-director Tai Yasue, it was mainly because of the team having to switch engines midway through the development, with moving from the in-house Luminous engine to Unreal Engine 4 resulting in the team having to re-acclimate itself with the tools at its disposal.
“One of the main factors was the decision to switch the game engine to develop the game,” Yasue said in an interview with Newsweek. “Our current engine is great in terms of developing a high end AAA title, but because there was a change in technology and work flows, it took some time for the team to adapt and adjust.”
Yasue also went on to apologize for the protracted development cycle, saying that he hopes fans will feel the game was worth the long wait. He said: “I’m truly sorry to have kept everyone waiting for so long! It took a while, but we really wanted to make sure the game met everyone’s expectations. I hope, more than I’ve hoped for anything else in my 20 years of making games, that you all enjoy it.”
Kingdom Hearts 3 launches, finally, on January 29 for the PS4 and Xbox One.