The wait for Kingdom Hearts 4 has been a long one, but it’s finally starting to materialize into something real. While the Kingdom Hearts series once released at a rapid pace, the quick turnaround between the first two games didn’t last long. 13 years (and plenty of spin-offs) elapsed between Kingdom Hearts 2 and KH3, and it’s already been seven more since KH3‘s release.
Now, however, we have official confirmation that it won’t be 13 again. At this year’s D23 conference, Disney has just offered an updated look at the future of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, including the planned release window and platforms for Kingdom Hearts 4.
The D23 Kingdom Hearts 4 trailer, available on the official Pixar and Disney YouTube channels, reveals a release window of “Late 2027” for the game. It also showcases the full list of platforms: Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (via Xbox, Steam, and the Epic Games Store).
Beyond that, the trailer largely focuses on the addition of the Land of the Dead from Pixar’s Coco. There, Miguel starts to perform on-stage before Heartless appear in the crowd, with Sora then emerging to attack them with a Keyblade. Other clips show Sora grinding a rail on a guitar-themed Keyblade, Mickey pondering how to save Sora, Donald and Goofy conversing with Hades, and a brief glimpse of the modern metropolitan setting of Quadratum.
There’s always a chance that Kingdom Hearts 4 could still slip out of its planned late 2027 release window. After years of teasing, the final reveal of a release window indicates some degree of confidence, but Kingdom Hearts 3 set a concerning precedent by ultimately missing its announced 2018 release window.
In either scenario, Kingdom Hearts 4 shouldn’t be too far away now. In the meantime, fans may be able to entertain themselves with another project: the newly announced Kingdom Hearts anime series coming to Disney Channel and Disney Plus. The series, however, is simply labeled as “Coming Soon,” so it might not even release until after Kingdom Hearts 4.
Regardless, the Kingdom Hearts franchise is gearing up for a lot more activity than it’s had in recent years. There have been some setbacks along the way (the cancellation of the mobile game Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link, for example), but hopefully, the wait for Kingdom Hearts 4 will be worth it.
- ESRB
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e
- Developer(s)
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Square Enix
- Publisher(s)
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Square Enix
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 5
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer