Update: The directory of the Kingdom Hearts series, Tetsuya Nomura, has released a statement regarding the leaks of the title. In this statement he announces his displeasure of the leak, but also acknowledges that two very important and spoilery bits of the game were not on the disc that is in the wild.
Seems that had seen other titles get leaked and planned for this – in case it happened. Still doesn’t make it any better, but at least they were prepared for this.
An important message for #KingdomHearts III from Director Tetsuya Nomura: pic.twitter.com/j9aVRFTS5B
— KINGDOM HEARTS (@KINGDOMHEARTS) December 16, 2018
Sadly, it looks like Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts III has been leaked a month ahead of its release. Yep, I’m totally being honest here.
Apparently, the person who is responsible for this has been selling copies of them on Facebook for $100 a copy. According to a Reddit post, they’ve sold 30 copies so far. This was confirmed by Reddit user /Sirthizzalot.
Thanks to the game being in the wild, there are several screenshots and videos of content that wasn’t shown before. We’re talking about spoiling the game content that you may want to avoid. What I did see is the title screen and that’s more than I really wanted to see.
Before you ask, no, we won’t be posting any of the screenshots or videos here. Why? Because it’s now piracy. The copies were obtained illegally. Which also means if we host the content on our servers, we’d be opening ourselves to a DMCA or worse. No thanks, we’ll pass on that.
As to how the copies were obtained, they were stolen from a packaging warehouse while they were getting ready to be shipped to stores. I hate to be that person once both Square Enix and Disney find out who’s responsible for these leaks. This is a really shitty move from someone who wanted to get some extra money in their pocket, but I don’t think they realize how much of an issue they’re in. I really don’t think anyone is going to take this situation laying down and I’m sure someone is working on how this happened right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if they already know who did the deed.
Either way, if you’re looking to be spoiler-free, be careful of what you watch on the internet. I’m sure that Twitter, Reddit, and YouTube will be full of videos and images that could ruin the game for you. For everyone else waiting, somewhat patiently, Kingdom Hearts III will legally release on January 25, 2019, for PS4 and Xbox One.
