The Disney and Square Enix mash-up sequel Kingdom Hearts 3 has begun to have a steady showing at the biennial D23 fan expos, now that the game is getting closer to release. Just days after a brand new trailer debuted at the expo here in the States, Disney has announced that Kingdom Hearts 3 will be coming back for D23 Japan in 2018, with a much stronger presence.

Now that the game has been confirmed to be releasing next year, which is surely a relief to weary fans, Disney will have its hands full promoting the heck out of it. And what better venue to do so than a Disney fan expo? At the event, it's expected the game's final release date will be disclosed – barring any surprise delays.

D23 Japan is beginning early next year, starting February 10th to the 12th at the Tokyo Disney Resort. This means it will be the first expo of the year to be dropping information on the game. At D23 last weekend, a trailer revealing the new Toy Story world was shown to audiences. Obviously, fans are hopeful that the 2018 event will show off copious amounts of new footage and introduce brand new worlds.

kingdom hearts 3 less disney worlds

The pacing of information on new worlds has been slim, and only a few worlds have been officially disclosed – all of them from the Disney universe. But fans shouldn't expect many more, as director Tetsuya Nomura confirmed that Kingdom Hearts 3 will feature less Disney worlds than previous games.

Additionally, it's been revealed that the game will allow for a larger party size, the Gummi Ship will be making a return, and there will be a second playable character. There are a lot of significant changes to the sequel, which is due, in part, to the advancement on gaming technology. The previous numbered Kingdom Hearts titles were both created for a console two generations old, after all.

What the D23 Japan expo will bring is unclear this early on, but as 2018 will be the year Kingdom Hearts 3 is projected to release, fans should expect Disney to bring out the big guns.

Kingdom Hearts 3 will be released in 2018 on PS4 and Xbox One.

Source: ComicBook