This much was divulged during a recent interview between Nomura and the Italian gaming outlet known as Multiplayer, with the Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy 7 director explaining that although both of the games were confirmed to be in production too soon, they were announced out of necessity. Apparently, the titles were made known early on in order to indulge and acknowledge the excitement of fans while also preventing leaks and rumors from happening.

According to the director, he and his team have always found it difficult to determine the right moment for Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy 7 remake announcements for myriad reasons such as pressure from fans wanting details about what project’s being worked on, wariness on leaks that spoil surprises, and the aforementioned risk of having gamers believe in fake rumors. With this being the case, Nomura decided to get ahead of the scuttlebutt this time around by breaking news about the games’ existences first.

Although the remake of Final Fantasy 7 was nowhere to be found at E3 2018, Kingdom Hearts 3 more than made up for FF7’s absence by releasing myriad trailers to prepare fans for its forthcoming release next year. Hopefully, though, we will get confirmation of the Final Fantasy 7 remake’s launch date soon.

Kingdom Hearts 3 is currently scheduled for launch on January 29, 2019 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Final Fantasy 7 is in development for PlayStation 4, but is without an official release date.

Source: Multiplayer (via Kingdom Hearts Insider)