It’s been a year and a half since Square Enix and Disney announced Kingdom Hearts 4 at the Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary event in Japan, and the well of updates for the game has been empty ever since. Meanwhile, Kingdom Hearts 3 is riding on the title of best-selling game in the series with 6.7 million units sold as of September 2021 — surpassing the sales of even the very first game.
Anticipation for Kingdom Hearts 4 is running high, so we’ve compiled a comprehensive overview of everything we know about the game so far. This page will be updated as we get more information.
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Kingdom Hearts 4 Potential Release Window
A release window for Kingdom Hearts 4 has not been announced. The game is still in early development, so it’s too soon to tell when it will be released. If the development cycle for Kingdom Hearts 3 is anything to go by, Kingdom Hearts 4 would be released in five years, if not sooner.
To justify the timeline of the game’s development, Goofy voice actor Bill Farmer said he had yet to record his lines soon after the trailer dropped. He even said that he didn’t realize that Kingdom Hearts 4 had been announced, let alone entered the development stages.
I can't believe I just announced Kingdom hearts 4 to Goofy directly. He was like "you know they never told me these things, I only find out from fans at conventions. At least I know I've got work coming." pic.twitter.com/hHHISy3l5W
— Gandheezy (@Gandheezy) May 27, 2022
Kingdom Hearts 4 Platforms
Kingdom Hearts 4 will likely launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with the possibility that it will launch on PC via Steam or Epic Games Store and the successor to the Nintendo Switch, whatever it will be called. Although, it might end up releasing towards the end of the first two consoles’ lifespan. For reference, Kingdom Hearts 3 was released on the PS4 and Xbox One six years into their lifespan, one year before each of their successors were announced.
Kingdom Hearts 4 Announcement Trailer
On April 10, 2022, Kingdom Hearts 4 was announced at the Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary showcase, along with the mobile title Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link, which is also in development. The trailer marked the game as the beginning of the Lost Master Arc and showed Sora with a more realistic design than he appeared in the previous games, as he finds himself in a world designed to look like the real world.
Meanwhile, Donald and Goofy set out to find Sora once more, only to be encountered by a mysterious figure.
Kingdom Hearts 4 Potential Setting
Kingdom Hearts 4 takes place after the events of Kingdom Hearts 3 and Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, as people have been looking for Sora for a year since he disappeared. Going by the trailer, the game is set in the world of Quadratum, a realistic city inspired by Tokyo, featuring a fictionalized Shibuya (which isn’t connected to The World Ends With You despite the game’s cast appearing in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance) and Minami-Aoyama. According to Tetsuya Nomura, Quadratum is an afterworld for Sora and Strelitzia but is the real world to its inhabitants.
Nomura also said Quadratum will serve as the hub world that players return to after visiting other worlds, while the luxury apartment Sora wakes up in will act as a home base in the earlier parts of the game. There will be Disney worlds in the game, but Nomura didn’t say which ones will make the cut.
Kingdom Hearts 4 Potential Story
As convoluted as the plot for the entire Kingdom Hearts series has been, there’s no telling what the story for Kingdom Hearts 4 will be about. However, the game marks the beginning of the Lost Master Arc, with Kingdom Hearts 3 serving as the end of the Dark Seeker Arc. A swarm of ShadowHeartless turning into a giant terrorizing Quadratum and the two members of Organization XIII that oversee Sora fighting it may set the tone for how the game’s story will play out. You can check out our guide to the Kingdom Hearts timeline for more info.
Kingdom Hearts 4 Gameplay
Sora will retain parkour elements and Keyblade transformations from Kingdom Hearts 3 with a new addition: his Keyblade will turn into a grappling hook that will take him long distances and higher elevations much like air step. Kingdom Hearts 4 will also bring back Reaction Commands, which fans have been demanding Square Enix do since Kingdom Hearts 2.
There will also be a new battle mechanic called Scrap and Build. What Scrap and Build involves is currently unknown, but there will be more details about it at a later date.
Cristina Alexander is a freelance writer for IGN. She has contributed her work to various publications, including Digital Trends, TheGamer, Twinfinite, Mega Visions, and The Escapist. To paraphrase Calvin Harris, she wears her love for Sonic the Hedgehog on her sleeve like a big deal. Follow her on Twitter @SonicPrincess15.
