Here's Why Kingdom Hearts 3 Doesn't Have Star Wars or Marvel Characters and Worlds

Action role-playing game Kingdom Hearts 3 for the PS4 and Xbox One has been a pleasant surprise given how long its been in development. Despite being a crossover between publisher Square Enix's Final Fantasy series and Disney's IPs, Kingdom Hearts 3 didn't have any representation from Marvel or Star Wars despite Disney owning both. In a recent interview, Kingdom Hearts 3 Director Tetsuya Nomura explained why Star Wars and Marvel characters and worlds were absent from the game as well as shedding light on the possibility of a 'Final Mix' version of Kingdom Hearts 3 similar to past entries.

"That's right," he said acknowledging that Lucasfilm and Marvel are now Disney properties, in an interview in the Kingdom Hearts 3 Ultimania companion book for the game (via KH13.com). 

"However, in order to change those [properties] into a game, contracts must be made with each company separately, and there are cases where other game companies already have contracts, so although the Disney Group has indeed added those [properties], incorporating them into KH isn't so simple. That's also the reason Mickey is in only one scene in KH1. At the same time, another company was releasing a game that had to do with Mickey, so though we were denied his usage, we persisted and eventually got 'as long as you only have one scene, from far away, as a silhouette, with him waving his hand or something'. Since we had to make the best of the biggest [and only] chance we had, that's why that scene appears that way."

As for Kingdom Hearts 3 getting a Final Mix variant like past games in the series, it could take the form of paid DLC Nomura said.

"There aren't any plans for a 'Final Mix'-type package (sold separately)," he said. "If I do make one, it would be in the form of DLC that included an English mode you could switch to. Additionally, we took recent player trends into account when we created the battles [for KH3], so we held back on the difficulty level, but there have been many requests to fight strong enemies, so I'm thinking that the priority would be on releasing a critical mode in the form of free DLC, and making the addition of strong enemies, the sort that would appear in a 'Final Mix', paid DLC."

Kingdom Hearts 3 for PS4 and Xbox One shipped five million units worldwide publisher Square Enix announced in a prepared statement. The company also stated it's the fastest-selling game in the franchise's history. Despite the '3' in the name, it's actually the twelfth entry in the long-running series and Square Enix claims that Kingdom Hearts as a whole has shipped over 25 million units since its inception in 2002. Not too bad when you consider that Kingdom Hearts 3 is near impossible to comprehend for anyone who hasn't played every single title prior.

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