Square Enix has confirmed that Kingdom Hearts IV is targeting a late 2027 release, giving the long awaited sequel a clearer launch window more than four years after its original announcement.
The update came during D23 in Anaheim, where Square Enix also showed a new trailer featuring a world based on Pixar’s Coco. The timing places the game close to the Kingdom Hearts series’ 25th anniversary.
Kingdom Hearts IV was first revealed in April 2022 and will begin a new storyline known as the Lost Master Arc.
Kingdom Hearts IV release and platform details
| Area | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release window | Late 2027 |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 5 |
| Main setting | Quadratum |
| New Disney Pixar world | Coco |
| Story arc | Lost Master Arc |
| Platforms | PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 |
| Original announcement | April 2022 |
The story takes place roughly a year after the events of Kingdom Hearts III.
Sora awakens in Quadratum, a large modern city with visual inspiration drawn from areas of Tokyo including Shibuya and Minami Aoyama. While Sora searches for a path back to his own world, Donald and Goofy travel through the Underworld looking for clues about his whereabouts.
Quadratum is expected to serve as an important hub early in the game. Sora’s apartment in Minami Aoyama will act as an initial base before players begin traveling to other worlds.
Coco joins the Kingdom Hearts universe
The latest trailer confirms that Coco will be represented as one of Kingdom Hearts IV’s featured worlds.
The 2017 Pixar film is centered around Mexican Day of the Dead traditions and follows Miguel through the Land of the Dead.
Its inclusion adds another Pixar property to the Kingdom Hearts series and gives the new trailer one of its most notable reveals.
Square Enix has not yet provided a complete list of worlds that will appear in the final game.
Combat keeps familiar Kingdom Hearts foundations
Kingdom Hearts IV will retain the series’ action focused combat, with Sora combining physical attacks and magic into fast sequences.
Square Enix says players will also be able to switch between Keyblades and use different attacks depending on their preferred play style.
Previous footage has shown traversal mechanics similar to Flowmotion returning in some form.
Sora has also been shown using a Keyblade keychain like a grappling hook and climbing across building exteriors, suggesting that Quadratum will support more vertical movement than many earlier Kingdom Hearts locations.
Strelitzia returns in Quadratum
Sora will also encounter Strelitzia, a Keyblade wielder who previously appeared in Kingdom Hearts Union χ.
Her return connects Kingdom Hearts IV more closely with the series’ mobile game storylines, which have become increasingly important to the wider narrative.
Series director Tetsuya Nomura has previously described Quadratum as a world that exists behind the familiar reality of Kingdom Hearts, although its inhabitants experience it as a normal world.
That setting appears to be central to the new Lost Master Arc.
The late 2027 release window means there is still more than a year before Kingdom Hearts IV arrives, but Square Enix has now provided its clearest update since the original reveal.
With Coco confirmed, Quadratum serving as Sora’s new base and Unreal Engine 5 powering the game, the next mainline entry is beginning to take a more defined shape ahead of its planned launch.
Discussion (0)
Be the first to comment.