Kingdom Hearts III

Unreleased

Kingdom Hearts III is the upcoming eighth game in the  series. It was officially announced at E3 2013, and will be the first Kingdom Hearts game available on multiple platforms at launch, releasing on both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Development
The game was first announced to be in development during the Electronics Entertainment Exposition in June 2013. A trailer was released announcing the game's development. However, news regarding the game became scarce. A trailer was later released at the first D23 Exposition in Japan in October 2013, revealing the gameplay and graphics that had been developed to date. As part of E3 2014, Square Enix released a new thirty-second trailer as part of a trailer to Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX. Days later, co-director Tai Yasue revealed that the sequence seen in the E3 2014 teaser would be relevant from the beginning of the game, and that the text seen and heard was going to "be a real integral part of the story".

E3 2013 Sony Conference Teaser
The trailer begins as scenes and images of past games and their scenes from the Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance intro fill the screen, starting with , followed by Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. As the computer-generated Sora from the intro of Dream Drop Distance rises, he slowly changes in appearance to a newer, in-game model.

The beach of Destiny Islands is then shown, with the Master Keeper Keyblade lying on the sand. Sora, now in his Kingdom Hearts II attire, approaches it and lifts it, looking at it curiously before shifting his gaze to the horizon. The game logo then appears.

A gameplay video follows, revealing the. An extra gauge, entitled "EX", appears around Sora's HP gauge. The MP gauge returns from Kingdom Hearts II. Gauges for Donald and Goofy appear to the right, rather than above like previous titles. The Command panel looks very similar to that of the previous console titles, albeit with a graphical revamp.

Sora begins running through Twilight Town, wielding the Kingdom Key. He is chased by a swarm of Shadow Heartless and flees, dodging the swarm by jumping off the sides of buildings in a way similar to his Flowmotion abilities from Dream Drop Distance. After riding the swarm in a manner similar to Vanitas riding the Keyblades in Birth by Sleep, Sora turns around and leaps to confront the swarm head on. The screen then cuts to black and reveals that the game is in development.

D23 Expo Japan 2013 Trailer
The trailer begins with Sora, Donald and Goofy running into a group of Heartless in Twilight Town's Tram Common, consisting of Shadows and Large Bodies. Sora casts Fire as Donald and Goofy begin to aid him. Sora then commences to enter "Two Shoot Blaster" mode, a new battle technique achieved through transforming the Keyblade that allows Sora to turn his Keyblade into twin pistols. Afterwards, the video fades to Sora using a "Pirate Ship", an evolution of the "Free Flow" mechanic introduced in Dream Drop Distance, lit up like the attractions in the Electrical Light Parade, and swinging dealing damage to the Heartless below, finally ending with a massive barrage of spinning the boat around.

Gameplay fades into another scene where Sora, Donald and Goofy are on a "Big Magic Mountain" train ride going around the Rock Titan, the camera closes in on Sora then out as Sora attacks the Titan a couple of times before jumping on top of the Titan's hand and landing back onto his seat. The camera closes in on Donald now then back out as Sora attacks the Titan yet again. Sora leads the train upwards into the sky, high above the Titan, turns around facing the Titan and sends the train ride right into the Titan. As the group falls in the sky, the screen then fades to black and reveals that the game is in development.

E3 2014
On June 5, 2014, Square Enix released a trailer for E3 2014, announcing the release dates for the releases of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX. Towards the end of the E3 2014 trailer, there is a teaser for Kingdom Hearts III. The 30-second teaser begins with several scenes from Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance along with the line "The next act opens--" and then the line "KINGDOM HEARTS III" appears. The remainder of the teaser features two unidentified people who are talking to each other. The screen remains black, with sketches of their faces in white, though their faces are too zoomed-in to identify. One says, "Have you heard of the ancient Keyblade War? Many years ago, Keyblade wielders started a war over the ownership of light." The other responds, "Yep, the Master loves telling that story." The first speaks again, saying, "Then I take it you also know of the 'lost masters'.", to which the second one says, "Nope, where'd you hear that?" The first one continues, "On that land shall darkness prevail and light expire," followed by a black screen and a flash of the roman numeral III from the Kingdom Hearts III logo. The last line appears: "But you knew that, didn't you?" The roman numeral III from the logo flashes again, followed by the note that the game is "Now in Development".

Co-director Tai Yasue revealed that the sequence seen in the teaser was the opening scene for the game. He added that it was created by Nomura who had "a real clear picture of [what] the starting sequence" should be and that the text seen and heard was going to "be a real integral part of the story".