Kingdom Hearts fans are eating well. Not only are we getting an animated series (that certainly looks like it’ll tackle the events of Kingdom Hearts Union x Dark Road), but apparently we’re also not gonna have to wait long before KH4 is in our hands, with the news the game will release in “late 2027.” The lack of a definitive date does have some fans concerned that “late 2027” might change to early 2028 or beyond, but Kingdom Hearts 4 co-directors Tetsuya Nomura and Tai Yasue came prepared.
During the Kingdom Hearts panel at this weekend’s D23 event, Nomura said (via IGN), “I saw online that some people were saying the release date might still get pushed back. I want to set the record straight: That is not happening.”
There’s reason for concern. Kingdom Hearts is well known for taking big breaks between mainline entires. It was 14 years between Kingdom Hearts 2 and 3, and a late 2027 release would only put 8 years between KH3 and 4. There are also potential issues of other games interfering with that release date. Let’s take a look at Square Enix’s 2027 calendar for a moment.
- In January 2027, the next Final Fantasy XIV expansion, Evercold, releases.
- In spring 2027, Final Fantasy Revelation is also supposed to launch.
- Then, in late 2027, Kingdom Hearts 4 arrives.
That is a potentially generational run of titles all slated to come out in the same year. Yes, there are different teams working on each game but those are still huge projects for Square Enix to juggle all at once. If resources or development teams are shared between projects, that creates the potential for delay. But Kingdom Hearts co-director Tai Yasue has faith in Square Enix’s project management.
“I can confidently say and promise that it will launch in 2027,” he said at D23. “It’s not like an 80-percent, 90-percent—it’s a 100-percent thing. We’ll be there in 2027 for sure.”
