News ► Various Sources Confirm: KH3 will have English and Japanese Audio Only

[Dandelion]

It's been a subject of speculation for a while now whether Kingdom Hearts III's international version would receive audio dubs in other languages besides English. We previously posted an article on the subject not looking likely. Now, Square-Enix's German EU store site confirms that the although there will be various text options, there will only be English audio.

 

 

This comes as a somewhat expected disappointment, as Kingdom Hearts hasn't had multilanguage audio since Kingdom Hearts II. 

You can see the details for yourself here.  We will update you as we learn more. 

UPDATE: 

 IGN France confirms this, saying: 

“On JVTV [live streaming show], Square-Enix France's managing director Florent Moreau confirms the absence of french dub for Kingdom Hearts 3. There will only be English and Japanese audio."

 

To clarify: this means that Kingdom Hearts III is only being recorded in English and Japanese. Not that you can switch between both audio tracks in the final game. 

Kingdom Hearts III releases January 29th, 2019, worldwide, on the PS4 and XboxOne consoles. Follow Kingdom Hearts Insider on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr for the latest updates on Kingdom Hearts Union X[cross], Kingdom Hearts III, and all things related to Kingdom Hearts! 

 

[gosoxtim]

Re: KH3 Listing in SE German Store Confirms English Audio Only

man i feel bad for the international fan of kh fans if it true that really suck i guess it not really in our control though

 

[Silver_Soul]

Sad but not a deal breaker. Although my Latin American Spanish sub dream is dead, I'm just excited it comes out soon.

 

[Recon]

I mean, they are still working on voice acting for English. Imagine if they included all other languages. I'm not saying the game wouldn't benefit from additional languages, but the time and effort to coordinate voice acting for those languages would take some time.

 

[Pizza]

Today, is the day international KH fans cry.

 

[windyangel]

WAIT but does this mean if KH3 releases in US it will have English AND Japanese audio? Or will it just have English audio? I have to decide between which version to buy depending on this situation......

 

[Muke]

Meh oh well. Would've been really really awesome to play KH in German again but eh I guess I'll have to just play it in English then. Not a big problem.

 

[VoidGear.]

i'll be really pissed if they also dont include jp audio
i'm gonna accept no german dub although i'm not very happy, but only english would be
just rude??

 

[Sdog]

Damn, that's a bummer. Sorry y'all.

 

[Keldium]

This is awful. This game will have in-game dialogues, and this is almost impossible to a not bilangual person to follow the action on the screen AND the subtitles at the midle of a fight. I'm french, I growed up with the french dubs and I was hoping with all my heart for european dubs. Sorry for my bad english.
Sora's french and german voice will always be my favorite.
"Mes amis sont ma force, et moi la leur !"

 

[Alpha Baymax]

The voice talents seem to be more diverse for this game considering the amount of characters featured. I'm not surprised that this is the case.

i'll be really pissed if they also dont include jp audio.

English is arguably the preffered dub for Kingdom Hearts so I don't see that happening.

 

[Sdog]

The voice talents seem to be more diverse for this game considering the amount of characters featured. I'm not surprised that this is the case.

The casting and voice directors must have quite the work load for this project. I can't imagine the budget if they were to try and do this for more than English and Japanese dubs.

 

[2 quid is good]

Today, is the day international KH fans cry.

Sucks to be Spanish on this day </3

 

[the red monster]

Maybe as a later DLC, iirc Zelda BotW got it also after the release

 

[Sephiroth0812]

Considering it is already confirmed that Nomura & co. apparently packed this title full with story content and Yokomura has to compose much more music than ever before the scale of KH III overshadows I and II in scope so I guess there is also much more voice work to do, especially if the lesser NPCs are also voiced.

It's already a huge task to do that in two languages, doing in in four or five would probably delay KH III to April 2019 or something.

 

[AR829038]

Man. I can only imagine how infuriating this must be to international KH fans.
I mean, if I had grown up with the English voiceover and all the classic actors, only to have to switch to a Japanese dub for every game after KH2, that would be extremely jarring, and really detach me from the characters.

 

[DarkosOverlord]

Bummer, we were never going to get Italian dub but I'm sad regardless for the German/Spanish/French fans who were hopeful, I know the feeling.

 

[Key-Chan567]

I'm completely fine with this. I've always hated the German dub anyway so I'm actually happy to hear this but I do feel sorry for everyone else. The only thing I want is being able to switch between Japanese and English audio but unfortunately it seems unlikely...what a pity.

 

[Launchpad]

we're getting english voices? Yes dude!!! Yes!!!!!

 

[2 quid is good]

There's actually a petition going round that some European fans have started up. If you feel so inclined then do sign!

https://www.disneycentral.de/kh3/signieren.php?sprache=en

Personally I think it's doable in the next seven months, and they would only need to cast new va's for aqua, Terra and xehanort. If they could fully localise ff15 they can do it for KH3 where there's a precedence.

I feel like it's much more of a pressing issue now due to text boxes being redundant. Watching something in a different language with subtitles is very different to playing, as watching shows is incredibly passive entertainment, unlike a game where you would be engaged at all times. I can see this being really detrimental to players in fast paced cutscenes or in-battle speech due to their attention being split. Which also brings up a lack of emersion as a reason for localisation.