Final Kingdom Hearts 3 Trailer Raises the Stakes for the Battle To Come

Square Enix has unveiled the last Kingdom Hearts 3 trailer before the game’s release next month. In comparison to the last few trailers for the game, we strongly recommend you avoid watching this one if you want to avoid spoilers. This trailer is a significant three minutes long, and it shows plenty of the game’s story and action in that time. The good news is that if you decide to watch it, even if you keep up with the story, you’ll have a hard time figuring what is going on. The trailer features the opening and ending track of the game, both of which are sung by none other than Utada Hikaru.

The trailer was originally going to be released later on in the week, but an unfortunate incident over the weekend seems to have affected the studio’s marketing plans. On Saturday, Dec. 15, a person on Facebook Marketplace was seen selling copies of the long-awaited Kingdom Hearts 3. Presumably, they worked at a shipping facility and decided to steal a few copies. Selling each copy at $100, the person also posted footage and screenshots to give their listing validity. Footage of the entire game can be found online—however, you’ll have to go searching for it, because most fans are adamant about protecting each other from the massive leak.

Game director Tetsuya Nomura wrote a statement addressing the news the next day. The statement reads:

We’re aware that a small portion of Kingdom Hearts III has been circulating online before its official release. We are also aware as to how this has all happened. We’re sorry to see this caused concern amongst our fans who are excited for the release.

The whole team has been working together since yesterday night (Japan time) to investigate what we can do to better this situation, but first we would like to ask that you do not share these videos.

The game’s epilogue and secret movie, which are the biggest spoilers in this game, are planned to be released at a later date just in case, so they will not be shown before the game’s release.

We want everyone to be able to equally experience the full game after its release, so we ask for your continued support on this matter.

We’re also very grateful that our fans have been warning each other already about the spoilers. Thank you very much.

We’re one month out from the release. Let’s enjoy the game together when it releases on January 29, 2019.

– Director Tetsuya Nomura

An important message for #KingdomHearts III from Director Tetsuya Nomura: pic.twitter.com/j9aVRFTS5B

— KINGDOM HEARTS (@KINGDOMHEARTS) December 16, 2018

Game leaks happen often, but it is unfortunate to see the entire game leak six weeks ahead of its release. Fans not in Japan and other Asian countries would’ve had to carefully navigate the internet before playing the game, anyway; Kingdom Hearts 3 will be released on Jan. 25, 2019, for fans in Japan and other Asian countries. Now all fans must be careful of spoilers for the game they’ll have waited 13 years for until the game’s release.

If you don’t fear spoilers, you can watch the beautiful trailer that’s bound to get any Kingdom Hearts fan emotional below. Kingdom Hearts 3 will be released on Jan. 29, 2019, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.