In an interview in this week's Famitsu, Tetsuya Nomura spoke on this year's Final Fantasy and Kingdom Heart's releases. This is a pivotal year for Square Enix as it's the Kingdom Hearts series' 15th anniversary, the Final Fantasy series' 30th anniversary, and Final Fantasy VII's 20th anniversary.

Tetsuya stated that the plans for the celebration of all these anniversaries so far mostly revolve around Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 releases in January in Japan, followed by Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 Remix in March. There will be a Final Fantasy VII snow exhibit at Sapporo's Snow Festival in February, but he didn't go into detail on what exactly that event would contain.

Development is still progressing on Kingdom Hearts III. Tetsuya stated that the production process had changed and that worlds were being retouched. Some worlds in Kingdom Hearts III haven't been addressed yet, while some the public have never seen are currently in production. As far as a release date for Kingdom Hearts III, Tetsuya said, "As far as development status goes, there’s still a ways to go."

Whether or not the first entry of three in the Final Fantasy VII Remake will be ready in time for the original title's 20th anniversary isn't known yet. Tetsuya stated, "We’re making steady progress on its production. While we are indeed working on it, I think we’ll have you guys wait a little longer for both Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy VII Remake."

There is a silver lining to all these delays and waiting concerning Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy VII Remake. The recent release of Final Fantasy XV has shown us that when Nomura and the developers at Square Enix take their time, they can make incredible games and that delays aren't necessarily indicators of anything being wrong in their games' developments.