KINGDOM HEARTS IV Scheduled for Late2027 Global Launch

KINGDOM HEARTS IV Unveiled at D23 2026, Scheduled for Late2027 Global Launch, Pixar’s Coco Revealed as First Disney World

Square Enix and Disney showcased highlyanticipated JRPG KINGDOM HEARTS IV during the Disney Entertainment Showcase and “Deep Dive into Kingdom Hearts” panel at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event 2026, confirming its global release window for late 2027Square Eni…. A brandnew trailer premiered, unveiling the game’s first officially announced DisneyPixar world based on the animated feature Coco, alongside groundbreaking gameplay updates, character details and a brandnew original anime project for the franchise.

Marking the first mainline entry after an eight-year gap, KINGDOM HEARTS IV continues Sora’s multiverse-spanning journey. In the new trailer, the grown-up Sora ventures into the vibrant Land of the Dead. Decorated with traditional calavera face paint from Día de los Muertos and wielding a custom-themed Keyblade, Sora fights Heartless alongside Miguel and Héctor across the dazzling afterlife realm. Sora’s core adventure unfolds within Quadratum, a modernstyle parallelreality metropolis, as he strives to find a path back to his original world.

GroundBreaking Gameplay & Character Features

The extended gameplay trailer shown at D23 delivers landmark changes to the franchise: for the firsttime in a mainseries title, King Mickey, Donald Duck and Goofy become fully playable with dedicated story segments, running parallel to one another as they search for the missing Sora.

1. Paperthemed Puzzle Sections for King Mickey: King Mickey enters a magical bookwoven origami paper dimension. This segment adopts puzzleoriented gameplay that is distinctly different from Sora’s actionfocused adventure, drawing creative inspiration from the Paper Mario Players generate origami copies of Mickey in multiple forms: paperthin versions to slip through wall cracks, giantsized forms, tiny miniatures, and paperairplane transformations for gliding. Players solve environmental puzzles by shifting between these origami avatars. Co-director Tai Yasue commented that this gameplay offers a refreshing, unique experience for players.
2. Playable Donald Duck & Goofy: No longer merely AI party companions to Sora, Donald and Goofy are fully controllable in combat sequences. Parallel to Sora’s storyline, the pair track clues from Hades (antagonist from Hercules) while searching for Sora, equipped with exclusive combos and teamup attacks.
3. Revamped Combat System: The dynamic, fastpaced combat system enables fluid chains of attacks and magic enhanced by brandnew combat mechanics. Players can swap Keyblades freely to trigger unique moves, tailoring combat flow for individual strategies and playstyles.

Franchise creative director Tetsuya Nomura shared during the panel that KINGDOM HEARTS IV will realize a major concept originally conceived during the development of Kingdom Hearts III, which could not be implemented back then due to technical constraints. Nomura and codirector Tai Yasue addressed widespread fan worries about potential delays, giving an official reassurance: development is progressing smoothly, and the late2027 launch window will be strictly honoured, with no postponement planned.

KINGDOM HEARTS IV will launch on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, as well as PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. Wishlist pages are live across all storefronts. Disney also announced an original Kingdom Hearts anime series in active development for Disney Channel and Disney+, with close creative involvement from Tetsuya Nomura and Square Enix teams.

About the Kingdom Hearts Franchise

A celebrated crossover RPG cocreated by Square Enix and Disney, the Kingdom Hearts franchise celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. It merges classic Final Fantasystyle roleplaying storytelling with worlds from Disney and Pixar animations, chronicling the grand adventures of Sora, wielder of the Keyblade, as he travels across countless realities.