When are we expecting news?

[Liodin]

I have read a few people waiting for some kind of news for the anniversary on the 28th.

Correct me if I'm wrong but, I don't think we've ever had any news on that day, have we?

I am very confident that we will see KH4 at this year's SGF, but it is true that the 28th would fit in terms of timing to announce the ML beta and perhaps the release of the games on Steam.

The 30th will be 3 years since they were released on the EGS, and it will be the most that a game (Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2) has been exclusive in the store.

On a marketing level, it makes a lot of sense to release ML and the games on Steam before the re-reveal, so when the trailer is shown people will play them because of the hype/nostalgia. But if the games are not out at that moment, they are losing sales/transactions/user base.

 

[Squood!]

I have read a few people waiting for some kind of news for the anniversary on the 28th.

Correct me if I'm wrong but, I don't think we've ever had any news on that day, have we?

I am very confident that we will see KH4 at this year's SGF, but it is true that the 28th would fit in terms of timing to announce the ML beta and perhaps the release of the games on Steam.

The 30th will be 3 years since they were released on the EGS, and it will be the most that a game (Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2) has been exclusive in the store.

On a marketing level, it makes a lot of sense to release ML and the games on Steam before the re-reveal, so when the trailer is shown people will play them because of the hype/nostalgia. But if the games are not out at that moment, they are losing sales/transactions/user base.

I'm pretty sure Epic specifically helped with the ports so...

 

[Darkspawn]

This wait is lowkey killing me. With that being said I do think once KH4 appears again they'll announce at least the window of release of the game.

It would be nice if they could do something in the anniversary. But idk. Mayne SGF? What do you guys think?

There’s a few options I think.

1.) Trailer drop sometime between now and April for the 22nd anniversary/2nd anniversary of the game’s announcement.
2.) PlayStation Showcase in May
3.) SGF
4.) D23

Barring severe development issues, I do not see us passing D23 with no updates. I will be genuinely worried if we still haven’t heard anything by then.

April would be ideal because 1.) it can help boost Missing Link which will be getting some news and 2.) it gets another AAA game formally on their slate prior to their May investor presentation. Not a great look to go into that with no confirmed releases past summer.

Oh boy can't wait for these to somehow eat up the rest of the year while KH hides behind the curtain

I doubt they will. FXIV is on its own wavelength with marketing stuff. And XVI will just have its PC release at some point after the DLC. I don’t think that will pull much focus at all.

I have read a few people waiting for some kind of news for the anniversary on the 28th.

Correct me if I'm wrong but, I don't think we've ever had any news on that day, have we?

I am very confident that we will see KH4 at this year's SGF, but it is true that the 28th would fit in terms of timing to announce the ML beta and perhaps the release of the games on Steam.

The 30th will be 3 years since they were released on the EGS, and it will be the most that a game (Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2) has been exclusive in the store.

On a marketing level, it makes a lot of sense to release ML and the games on Steam before the re-reveal, so when the trailer is shown people will play them because of the hype/nostalgia. But if the games are not out at that moment, they are losing sales/transactions/user base.

Usually not. For the 20th, Nomura shared artwork and that they were preparing for the anniversary event. If anything, I’m hoping something similar may happen. Potentially an announcement of an announcement to come in April or further down the line.

 

[MATGSY]

There’s a few options I think.

1.) Trailer drop sometime between now and April for the 22nd anniversary/2nd anniversary of the game’s announcement.
2.) PlayStation Showcase in May
3.) SGF
4.) D23

It's unlikely (& I must a glutton for punishment to even be suggesting it at this point), but I suppose the rumored Switch 2's reveal in June is another possibility. With the 7R trilogy & 16 being locked to PS/PC exclusivity, Square should probably find something to bring to it. The latest rumor on DLSS support getting upgraded suggests S2 will be more capable than previously thought. Plus Nintendo likely wants a big showcase 3rd party for the reveal like Skyrim was for S1.

 

[Chaser]

I have read a few people waiting for some kind of news for the anniversary on the 28th.

Correct me if I'm wrong but, I don't think we've ever had any news on that day, have we?

For various anniversaries (KH series, Union X) we sometimes gotten a sketch and a message from Nomura (the 15th anniversary sketch became the infamous Sora sitting on a throne image and the 20th anniversary sketch was the one that was at the KH4 reveal event). We got our first look at a HD Daybreak Town in 2016 for the series anniversary too.

It's not been big things, but at this stage I think we'd all take something.

 

[Squood!]

Seriously I know some games need more focus than others but this is ridiculous that in regards to KH4 specifically we have had absolutely nothing to where the news that KH4 has another writer is being repeated as if it's a new thing. Just because KH4 gets like a minute long trailer or some shit doesn't mean FF7 Rebirth would suddenly crash, burn, and be forgotten.

 

[Liodin]

For various anniversaries (KH series, Union X) we sometimes gotten a sketch and a message from Nomura (the 15th anniversary sketch became the infamous Sora sitting on a throne image and the 20th anniversary sketch was the one that was at the KH4 reveal event). We got our first look at a HD Daybreak Town in 2016 for the series anniversary too.

It's not been big things, but at this stage I think we'd all take something.

Okay, so at that level of expectation I hope Nomura will finally share the artwork he said he was going to do for the ML re-reveal in October.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1717527257722572895

 

[Darkspawn]

Seriously I know some games need more focus than others but this is ridiculous that in regards to KH4 specifically we have had absolutely nothing to where the news that KH4 has another writer is being repeated as if it's a new thing. Just because KH4 gets like a minute long trailer or some shit doesn't mean FF7 Rebirth would suddenly crash, burn, and be forgotten.

Not gonna lie, there’s a part of me that is nervous development isn’t as far along as we’re hoping. Possibly due to the team helping with XVI and possibly Rebirth as well.

I don’t think that’s actually the case though. Visions of Mana had the same radio silence for two years only to be announced to release within 9 months after its full reveal. DQXII is still in the same boat (although Yuji Horii has made a couple comments here and there at least.)

It seems to be Square’s M.O. recently to announce a game and then go silent on it until they can announce the release window. (Both Rebirth and Visions did this.) So I’m hoping it’s less about Rebirth being the focus and more about them waiting until they are confident the game will be out within a year before revealing again.

It’s a painful wait. But I think it’ll be worth it in hindsight if the game is in a near complete state next time we see it and releases within a year. Hopefully we don’t see it again only to have another “Magic in the Making” placeholder. Lol

 

[blank points]

I can't help but feel a little concerned myself, though I'd like to think that KH4 is proceeding at least pretty well in development. That first trailer was very polished, and if I remember correctly, Nomura said in the first interview for the game that development was being prioritized, so I can't imagine that, even if they did help with other games, it would have been too affected. The only culprit I can think of was the engine switch to UE5. It shouldn't have been too much of a jump like with KH3, but considering they are trying to make Quadratum look as realistic as possible, maybe it took some more extra work then they thought initially. I also can't help but wonder if maybe the silence of because of Disney. Since we know that KH4 was announced a bit early, maybe Disney had Square keep quiet about the game until it was closer to it's release date?

 

[Squood!]

Wouldn't be the first time a game Nomura directed had its team taken to help with a mainline FF...

 

[Disney Adventurer]

I think development's going well at least and it's just that when Nomura said that we wouldn't see this game for "quite a while" and that it was revealed early to quash anymore leaks, he meant it.
I'm still hopeful for a 2025-2026 release.

I do hope someone asks Nomura though what it was he was talking about when he old Yoko Shimomura though about something happening that changed KH's direction though.

 

[Squood!]

I think development's going well at least and it's just that when Nomura said that we wouldn't see this game for "quite a while" and that it was revealed early to quash anymore leaks, he meant it.

Silly of him to think people who can leak stuff cared enough to leak KH4 outside of the GeForce leak. Seriously before the anniversary, the only "leaks" were "Oh KH3 PS5 port" and "3.5 Final Chapter Epilogue".

It's a case of Nomura overestimating something cuz of the KH3 leak fiasco where the only INTENTIONAL leaks that weren't fake blarg were from people who bought stolen copies.

 

[Darkspawn]

I can't help but feel a little concerned myself, though I'd like to think that KH4 is proceeding at least pretty well in development. That first trailer was very polished, and if I remember correctly, Nomura said in the first interview for the game that development was being prioritized, so I can't imagine that, even if they did help with other games, it would have been too affected. The only culprit I can think of was the engine switch to UE5. It shouldn't have been too much of a jump like with KH3, but considering they are trying to make Quadratum look as realistic as possible, maybe it took some more extra work then they thought initially. I also can't help but wonder if maybe the silence of because of Disney. Since we know that KH4 was announced a bit early, maybe Disney had Square keep quiet about the game until it was closer to it's release date?

Yeah I agree. The help with FFXVI was primarily with combat. Plenty of development on the worlds, cutscenes, etc. would have continued without that. The only thing I think they may have helped with in Rebirth is some of the minigames.

I’m pretty sure UE5 slowed things down a bit based on things I’ve seen about issues with some of the engine’s features. But I think those issues have probably been overcome by now considering we’re starting to see more and more UE5 games hit the market.

EDIT: Dawntrail launches 7/2/24! That probably puts Visions of Mana late July-September sometime. Yoshi-P says he delayed it a week to play the Elden Ring DLC.

 

[Launchpad]

if nothing else, I can't help but be tickled about and enjoy the fact that KH4 fever is running wild on this otherwise relatively slow forum. We have nothing to go on other than the fact that it's been too long and it's making people go crazy speculating.

 

[Darkspawn]

if nothing else, I can't help but be tickled about and enjoy the fact that KH4 fever is running wild on this otherwise relatively slow forum. We have nothing to go on other than the fact that it's been too long and it's making people go crazy speculating.

I think Nomura knows he lives in our heads rent free.

I can’t wait to see what happens when we get actual news.

 

[Disney Adventurer]

For the next trailer, I think Endor being the first world shown off is a pretty safe bet.
Story wise, I'd like a little more insight on what everyone in the realm of light is doing to try to bring Sora back,
how Mickey's investigation is going if that's still a thing, and Yozora if he's still in KH IV's story.

 

[MATGSY]

how Mickey's investigation is going if that's still a thing,

Which totally could be a game on it's own. A shame that's not something Square does anymore.

 

[Chaser]

The only culprit I can think of was the engine switch to UE5. It shouldn't have been too much of a jump like with KH3, but considering they are trying to make Quadratum look as realistic as possible, maybe it took some more extra work then they thought initially.

I do think UE5 is to take on some of the blame. They got that trailer out using UE4 but then they changed to UE5 which we know was missing some features that the FFVII Remake series needed and it's why that series stuck with UE4. The Osaka team might have lost a lot of plug-ins and functions that they established with KH3 in UE4 and they needed to spend time to work around that.

Then there was the cryptic thing that altered the course of the series that Nomura hinted at. Could have affected the game's development as well. Plus we know that Disney needs things to be perfect when using IPs from the last decade or so since the talent still work at the studios. They were getting notes about stuff like character's eye lines, so that plus the approval process could slow them down.

I've moved my hope from late this year to early next year. Just please don't go up against GTA6 (if that doesn't get delayed.)

 

[Phoenix]

At this point, what do you think comes first? News about ML or 4?

 

[Squood!]

I do think UE5 is to take on some of the blame. They got that trailer out using UE4 but then they changed to UE5 which we know was missing some features that the FFVII Remake series needed and it's why that series stuck with UE4. The Osaka team might have lost a lot of plug-ins and functions that they established with KH3 in UE4 and they needed to spend time to work around that.

Then there was the cryptic thing that altered the course of the series that Nomura hinted at. Could have affected the game's development as well. Plus we know that Disney needs things to be perfect when using IPs from the last decade or so since the talent still work at the studios. They were getting notes about stuff like character's eye lines, so that plus the approval process could slow them down.

I've moved my hope from late this year to early next year. Just please don't go up against GTA6 (if that doesn't get delayed.)

Oif...startin' to wish KH4 stuck with UE4 too.