'Kingdom Hearts 3' release date news 2016: Upcoming installment to have episodic release; to include Marvel, 'Star Wars,' 'Frozen,' 'Toy Story' worlds?

Square Enix is still not ready to confirm the latest details regarding the highly anticipated "Kingdom Hearts 3." The Japanese game developer company has been busy for the past several months in creating their its huge game titles. For one, Square Enix is also focused on the expansion of the "Final Fantasy" series.

In the "Kingdom Hearts" franchise, the company is focused on promoting the soon-to-be-released "Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue," which was presented at the recently concluded Tokyo Game Show (TGS) 2016. Nevertheless, there is nothing to stop the fans from speculating about the possible contents of "Kingdom Hearts 3."

The previous "Kingdom Hearts" game titles are known to feature characters and worlds outside of its own narrative. Usually, the players will get to see familiar characters from another media as contributors to the gameplay. This time around, "Kingdom Hearts 3" is expected to go bigger as ever with the rumored introduction of Disney worlds. 

Mobile N Apps reported that Square Enix is presently getting the permission of Disney to feature some of its biggest characters for the past few years in their upcoming video game. According to the rumors, Square Enix is planning to include the worlds of popular Disney animated films such as "Frozen," "Toy Story," and even "Wreck-it-Ralph" to the story of "Kingdom Hearts 3." Moreover, it is also likely that other franchises owned by Disney, particularly the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars, will be featured in the game as well.

On the other hand, it is also rumored that "Kingdom Hearts 3" will pick up an episodic style of release with the whole video game being divided into smaller chapters. As reported by Gamepur, "Kingdom Hearts" game director Tai Yasue teased that Square Enix may decide to release the upcoming "Kingdom Hearts" installment by episode due to the expected huge size of the game itself.

Game Rant reported that "Kingdom Hearts 3" will be released as early as 2017 in PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, seeing that there will be no delays in the schedule of Square Enix. However, these reports should still be taken with a grain of salt as Square Enix has not yet confirmed the details themselves. For now, the fans can focus on the upcoming "Kingdom Hearts" prelude chapter which will be released in January 2017.