It has been a while since the last major Kingdom Hearts title was released. For those who don’t know about Kingdom Hearts, it originally launched on March 28, 2002 for PlayStation 2, and sold 6 Million copies worldwide. It has since gone on to become a franchise with half a million to a Million copies sold for each release. Kingdom Hearts 3 broke that mold and sold over 6.7 Million copies worldwide. To date, the Kingdom Hearts franchise, thus far has sold over 30 Million copies worldwide. Kingdom Hearts 4 was recently ousted via a Nvidia leak, so speculation about Kingdom Hearts 4 was bubbling for a while now. On April 10, 2022 – Square Enix finally confirmed the existance of Kingdom Hearts 4 to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the franchise. To coincide with the announcement of Kingdom Hearts 4, 2 mobile games were announced for Kingdom Hearts. Nothing is known about Kingdom Hearts 4 besides that it’s being developed, and that the engine being utilized for Kingdom Hearts 4 is currently Unreal Engine 4. However, Square Enix says it will port it over to Unreal Engine 5. There is no known release date, no known consoles targeted at, nothing. Just that it’s being developed… Here is the announce trailer, followed by a press release…
TOKYO, JAPAN (April 10, 2022) – Today, as part of the 20th anniversary celebration of the KINGDOM HEARTS franchise, SQUARE ENIX and Disney announced that KINGDOM HEARTS IV, the newest installment in the beloved RPG series, is in early development, and also revealed a brand-new mobile game, KINGDOM HEARTS Missing-Link.
In the announcement trailer, Sora makes a triumphant return with an updated look at the beginning of an epic new storyline titled the “Lost Master Arc.” Beginning with Sora facing off in a boss battle against a giant enemy, players are introduced to the Quadratum, a large, expansive city set in a gorgeous, realistic world unlike anything ever seen before in the KINGDOM HEARTS series. Fans will be excited to see the return of Sora’s well-known companions Donald and Goofy, in addition to the first appearance of Strelitzia, a mysterious new character who appears before Sora in this strange new setting.
Fans can also look forward to KINGDOM HEARTS Missing-Link, an all-new game for iOS and Android devices, which allows players to embark on adventures from the realm of Scala ad Caelum into the real world. Players will be able to engage in exhilarating battles against the Heartless and discover a new, original story. A closed beta test is planned for 2022*.
“We’re thrilled to celebrate the series’ 20th anniversary with the announcement of two new KINGDOM HEARTS titles,” said KINGDOM HEARTS series Brand Manager, Ichiro Hazama. “We’d like to thank the fans for all of their support over the years, and we can’t wait for them to experience all that’s to come for Sora.”
“Sora is an original Disney video game hero like no other, beloved by our team, and fans across the world. We’ve been honored to work with Tetsuya Nomura and his team for two decades to introduce these original stories of discovery, courage, and friendship,” said Nana Gadd, Director, Walt Disney Games. “This glimpse into Sora’s next adventure is just the beginning – we can’t wait to show more when the time is right.”
Additionally, the KINGDOM HEARTS team announced that the highly anticipated final chapter of KINGDOM HEARTS DARK ROAD will be released in August 2022 as a free update to the KINGDOM HEARTS Union χ Dark Road app.
SQUARE ENIX and Disney hosted the KINGDOM HEARTS 20th Anniversary event in Tokyo, Japan where together with fans, they celebrated the past 20 years of the beloved franchise and provided a first look at what’s to come next. The event also featured a live music performance, a showcase of stained-glass artworks and on-stage appearances from Series Director, Tetsuya Nomura, series’ composer, Yoko Shimomura, and other development members. Fans can enjoy photos from the event on the official social channels and look forward to a recording of the event which will be shared at a later date.
Source: Square Enix, Press Release
