At the Disney D23 convention in Anaheim, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the franchise, what players have been waiting for two years in almost complete silence finally sounded — a new trailer for Kingdom Hearts 4, a confirmed release date and the first truly revealed world based on Pixar's Coco.
The long silence is over
Fans know how to wait for Kingdom Hearts sequels — the previous part of the numbered series was released back in 2019, and after the announcement of the fourth game in 2022, the studio almost did not make itself known, writes xrust. Therefore, Saturday's presentation at D23 in Anaheim looked more like a reunion with a long-lost relative than an ordinary game announcement. The formal reason for the event was serious: the franchise is celebrating 25 years, and the first game in the series was released on PlayStation 2 back in 2002 — that is, it found those who today bring their own children to such conventions as teenagers.
Tetsuya Nomura, the creator of the series who rarely spoils fans with personal appearances, made a surprise appearance at the panel. He said that when choosing new worlds, the team consciously looked for stories that would provide “strong synergy” with the gameplay, and settled on “Coco,” an animated film about a boy who goes to the Land of the Dead to look for his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer. According to Nomura, it was this plot that seemed best suited to the developers.
What was shown in the trailer
The extended four-minute video was a continuation of the 90-second teaser that appeared the day before. Viewers were returned to familiar faces — Donald, Goofy, King Mickey and Hades, and at the same time were shown fragments of new locations. Judging by the detailed frame-by-frame analysis that appeared later, the episode begins with a scene recognizable from the cartoon itself: Miguel and his great-grandfather Hector visit the fading Chicharron. Next, Sora, dressed in a Day of the Dead-themed outfit with skull makeup, engages in battle with the Heartless right during Miguel's performance at a music competition.
Here lies the main intrigue: according to the plot of “Coco,” Miguel and Sora, apparently, already know each other by the time the episode starts, which means that the beginning of the hero’s journey in this world will probably remain behind the scenes of the trailer. Sora receives the Keyblade, styled after the world's aesthetic, and fights alongside Hector at the de la Cruz family's home.
A separate piece of intrigue is associated with the appearance of the protagonist: in the world of “Coco” Sora looks a little more cartoonish than in the realistic Quadratum — a fictional reflection of the Tokyo district of Shibuya, where, as was previously known, he is locked up. At the same time, the character’s hairstyle and adult design were retained — this hints that the change in style is not connected with a specific world, but with the very nature of the Kingdom of Fiction and Death, where the hero finds himself.
Not only “Coco”
In addition to the world based on Pixar, panelists talked about a completely new location, Paper Mickey Mouse, designed as a fairy-tale book coming to life. Here, Mickey Mouse — which is rare for the series — becomes a full-fledged playable character for the first time. The developers described an unusual mechanic: the hero will be able to squeeze through cracks in the walls, turn into a paper airplane and solve puzzles based on this transformation. For a series that has relied on blade plus magic for decades, this is a tangible experiment with the format.
There was also a reminder about the villainous cast: the authors confirmed that Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty will return in the game — and, judging by the hints at the panel, her role in the plot will be noticeably more significant than a cameo appearance.
As for the timing, game co-director Tai Yasue directly stated at the panel that he was not going to talk in vague terms: development is not 80 or 90%, but completely on schedule, and the release will take place in 2027. A more precise window has not yet been named — we are talking about the “late” part of the year. The game is being prepared immediately for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.
Why this is more than just a game
For Disney, the franchise has long ceased to be a niche product for Japanese role-playing games. As the company's executive vice president of games and digital entertainment Sean Shoptau said in a strategic report published this week, Kingdom Hearts is among nine game franchises that each brought Disney more than $1 billion in retail revenue — that's about 90-plus billion rubles at current exchange rates. For a company that in recent years has been relying on diversifying its income beyond film distribution and amusement parks, such a franchise is an asset that is not a sin to warm up again even without the release of a new part.
A separate signal of how seriously Disney takes the series is the original anime series based on Kingdom Hearts announced yesterday for Disney Channel and Disney+. The title and release date have not yet been revealed, but Nomura confirmed that he is personally involved in the development of the project. For the franchise, which was originally a game crossing of the worlds of Disney and “Final Fantasy” from Square Enix, entering the series format is a logical step: the audience has grown, and the universe has acquired so many sidelines in 25 years that it is almost impossible to tell its story to new viewers without a screen.
What's next
Considering that months rather than years now pass between announcements — the previous major video was shown at the Nintendo Direct presentation in June — fans can expect that the next batch of details will appear before the end of the year. Moreover, the film crew, judging by the tone of the speech at the panel, is finally ready to talk about the project openly, and not get off with standard phrases about “working on the game.”
Sources:
reuters.com
gematsu.com
thegamer.com
Xrust Kingdom Hearts 4 showed to fans: Disney and Square Enix announced the release date
