In these times, it’s harder than ever to keep a game from being leaked. After several copies of Kingdom Hearts 3 were leaked last month prior to release, the game’s director Tetsuya Nomura says he is “reconsidering” simultaneous worldwide releases for future titles.
Speaking to Famitsu (via Siliconera) Nomura said that only four copies of the game were leaked to the public last month, dispelling rumors that mass quantities of the game had been leaked.
“I believe there was misinformation that made it seem as though it leaked in massive quantities from multiple sources,” Nomura said, “but in fact only four copies made it out there, and we confirmed that though the leak came from a single source, it seemed like multiple due to how the copies were scattered.”
He also added that going forward, he would have to reconsider what he would do for future games in terms of distribution.
“That being said, the only thing that really disappointed me about everything is that it brought sad thoughts to people who were looking forward to Kingdom Hearts 3,” he said. “The risk is higher with simultaneous worldwide releases, and because of this incident I can’t help but reconsider what I’ll do for my next games, including simultaneous worldwide releases of physical copies at the very least.”
It was reported last month that someone had been leaking footage of the Xbox One version of the game and listing copies on Facebook Marketplace which were eventually deleted. According to Quinton Flynn, who voices Axel/Lea in the game, the person responsible for the leak may have already been caught.
A Twitter thread from someone claiming to know the leaker said that he has a history of this behavior. The incident may have allegedly taken place at a manufacturing plant in North Carolina.
Kingdom Hearts 3 will be released on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on January 29. The game is already out in Japan.
