There are a number of fantastic video game releases that fans wait years for it to release. Just like with any big media release, no one likes to get spoiled ahead of time. For instance, developers who have been working on a big video game title years before it releases, there are probably a number of stressful moments leading up to the video game’s launch. One of the worries that may not be on the top of the list is a game releasing into the market ahead of time. We don’t see too many releases leaking ahead of launch but that’s exactly what happened to Kingdom Hearts 3. A few retailers in North American released Kingdom Hearts 3 before they were supposed to which allowed a number of gamers to get an early copy.
It’s not known just how many gamers secured a copy of the game but Square Enix believes the number is relatively low. But even with a low number of early copies circulating around the community, it was impossible not to keep the lid closed on the game narrative. Leaks were coming out online showing off Kingdom Hearts 3 which definitely got some gamers worried that they would stumble upon a spoiler before experiencing the game firsthand. As a result of this fiasco, a patch was set to go out on the first launch date which would give access to a few cutscenes which were previously hidden away to keep some of the twists and turns away from the public eye.
…I say it was only one, but thanks to that one, many people who were looking forward to KH3 were caused distress. It is a humongous shame. This incident proved that worldwide simultaneous releases are highly risky, and I feel obligated to reconsider them for any titles I am involved with in the future, at least for physical editions.
This still is causing plenty of frustration for the Kingdom Hearts director, Tetsuya Nomura, who recently spoke with Famitsu. It was during this conversation with the Japanese magazine publication that Tetsuya alerted the world that when it comes to future video game releases that he is control of may find a new release schedule. It looks like Tetsuya may opt to avoid worldwide releases in hopes to secure the game from leaking out early though that seems to only be for physical versions of video games. Of course, this is purely talk right now, but with Kingdom Hearts 3 being such a massively anticipated video game for players all around the world, it wouldn’t be too surprising that other developers take this idea of limiting what regions receive the game in order to get a better handle when games actually go out to store shelves.
[Source: KH Insider, Game Informer]
