Kingdom Hearts 4 finally has a release window after four years of very little information. The next mainline game will come out in late 2027, and Disney and Square Enix used D23 2026 to reveal its first confirmed Disney world, more gameplay, playable Mickey content, and additional story details. Disney is also making a separate Kingdom Hearts anime series for Disney Channel and Disney+.
Quick Summary
- Kingdom Hearts 4 comes out in late 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
- Coco is the first confirmed new Disney world, with Miguel and Héctor joining Sora in the Land of the Dead.
- Gameplay keeps the fast real-time Keyblade combat while adding the new Build system and more movement and transformation abilities.
- An original Kingdom Hearts anime series is in development for Disney Channel and Disney+, with Tetsuya Nomura and Square Enix involved.
- Sora begins the game trapped in Quadratum while Donald and Goofy search the Underworld for a way to find him.
Kingdom Hearts 4 release date and platforms
Kingdom Hearts 4 is scheduled to be released in late 2027, but we don’t have a more specific release date yet. The game was originally announced in April 2022, so more than five years will have passed between the reveal and the release if the current schedule is to be believed.
PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC all get the game on the same day, with the PC version sold through Steam, the Epic Games Store, and the Microsoft Store/Xbox on PC.
What is the story of Kingdom Hearts 4?
Kingdom Hearts 4 opens the Lost Master Arc after Kingdom Hearts 3 wrapped up the Dark Seeker Saga. Sora wakes in Quadratum, which was extensively showcased in the Nintendo Direct trailer, and starts looking for a way back to his own reality, while Donald and Goofy go to the Underworld hunting for information that might lead them to him.
Quadratum resembles modern Tokyo, Shibuya in particular, but exists outside the normal reality Sora and his friends occupy, and it doubles as the game’s initial hub. Sora has an apartment there, and the game will spend more time on his ordinary daily life between trips to other worlds than previous entries did.
Sora’s disappearance stays at the center of the plot. Strelitzia, who first appeared in Kingdom Hearts Union χ, is living in Quadratum and was introduced alongside Sora in the 2022 reveal, while the June 2026 trailer brought back Luxord and the D23 footage showed Sigurd together with Strelitzia.
The masked figures connected to the Foretellers return to the central conflict as well. Nomura previously identified them as the obstacles waiting for Sora once Xehanort’s story was done, which ties Kingdom Hearts 4 directly to the mysteries set up in Kingdom Hearts 2.8 and the ending of Kingdom Hearts 3.
Maleficent is returning too, and she’ll have a significant role. Donald, Goofy, King Mickey, and Hades have all been shown in the latest trailers.
Which worlds are confirmed for Kingdom Hearts 4?
Quadratum is the main original setting, but D23 finally gave us the first major Disney destination in Coco. Sora travels to the Land of the Dead with a world-specific appearance and Keyblade, accompanied by Miguel and Héctor.
Nomura explained during the D23 panel that the team picks worlds by considering how individual Disney properties can create interesting gameplay opportunities, rather than adding films purely because they’re popular, and Coco reflects that approach.
A paper-styled Mickey Mouse world was also shown at D23, where Mickey becomes playable and interacts with the storybook environment by slipping through cracks, changing his form, turning into a paper airplane, and solving puzzles, which is substantially different from Sora’s normal combat-focused sections.
The Underworld from Hercules shows up as well during Donald and Goofy’s search, though it isn’t yet clear whether players will explore it as a full returning world or mostly see it through story sequences.
Kingdom Hearts 4 gameplay
Combat stays real-time and built around Sora’s Keyblade, physical attacks, and magic. A new combo feature and the ability to switch between Keyblades with different unique actions are also confirmed, letting players adjust Sora’s attacks to the situation, so switching weapons is about adjusting to the situation rather than picking better stats.
Build is the major new system, appearing directly in the command menu and letting Sora create or reconstruct objects during combat and exploration.
Traversal is considerably more mobile, as Sora can use the Keyblade and its chain as a grappling tool, throw himself through environments, run across buildings, and move directly between traversal and combat.
Reaction Commands may return in a more deliberate form, as Nomura discussed bringing the Kingdom Hearts 2 mechanic back during development, and the 2026 trailers contain contextual combat actions reminiscent of that system, though the final implementation is still unclear.
Why does Sora look different in Kingdom Hearts 4?
Sora’s more realistic appearance comes from Quadratum rather than a permanent redesign. The world uses a much more realistic visual style than most previous Kingdom Hearts locations, and Sora changes to match it the same way his design shifts when he enters Disney worlds with distinctive visual rules.
Nomura previously explained that people in Sora’s world and Quadratum each perceive the other side as fictional, which makes the relationship between the two realities one of the foundations of the new story arc.
What is the new Kingdom Hearts TV series?
Disney has greenlit an original Kingdom Hearts anime series for Disney Channel and Disney+. Kingdom Hearts is only a working title for now, and the show will tell a brand-new story rather than adapting one of the existing games.
Nomura and Square Enix’s creative team are working with Disney Kids & Family on the project, with members of the Kingdom Hearts 4 team involved as well, including artists creating new designs specifically for the series. Disney hasn’t announced the episode count, cast, animation studio, release date, or whether the plot connects directly to Kingdom Hearts 4.
What happened to Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link?
Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link was announced alongside Kingdom Hearts 4 in 2022 and was originally meant to contain characters and information connected to the new mainline game. Square Enix canceled the mobile RPG in May 2025 after multiple tests and delays, saying it didn’t believe it could provide a satisfactory long-term service.
What is still unknown about Kingdom Hearts 4?
There’s still no exact release date, edition or preorder breakdown, complete Disney-world list, or confirmation of how many worlds will be included. Nomura previously warned that increasing graphical complexity limits how many individual worlds the team can produce, so the final lineup may be smaller than fans expecting every recent Disney and Pixar movie to get its own level.
Final Fantasy characters remain unresolved as well, and Nomura has acknowledged that players wanted more of them after Kingdom Hearts 3, but the team also has an increasingly large cast of original Kingdom Hearts characters to accommodate, so no substantial Final Fantasy roster has been confirmed.
With the late-2027 release window and the 25th anniversary coming next year, the long information drought appears to be over.
FAQs
When does Kingdom Hearts 4 release?
Kingdom Hearts 4 is scheduled for late 2027. An exact launch date hasn’t been announced.
What is the first Disney world in Kingdom Hearts 4?
The first newly announced Disney world is Coco, with Miguel and Héctor joining Sora in the Land of the Dead.
When does the Kingdom Hearts TV series release?
The Kingdom Hearts anime doesn’t have a release date yet. It’s being developed for Disney Channel and Disney+ with an original story and involvement from Tetsuya Nomura and Square Enix.
