Final Fantasy Maker Cancels Kingdom Hearts Spin-Off As It Focuses On ‘Quality Over Quantity’

Square Enix has finally given up on its Pokémon GO-style mobile spin-off of Kingdom Hearts. The Final Fantasy publisher announced on Wednesday that it was cancelling Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link, which began development back in 2019, because it didn’t think it could deliver on the live-service experience over the long haul. The change of heart comes as Square Enix commits to releasing fewer but better games.

Missing-Link was supposed to be a GPS-based RPG that integrated the real world into the series’ familiar action combat and storytelling, and it was originally supposed to launch in 2024. “We wish to convey our heartfelt apologies to everyone who has been looking forward to the start of service,” the publisher wrote in an update. “Although we worked hard on developing and adjusting the game in the hope that it would be enjoyed by lots of players, we determined that it would be difficult for us to offer a service that players would find satisfactory over a long period of time, leading us to the decision to cancel development.”

Square Enix confirmed it’s still all-in on Kingdom Hearts IV, but noted in its latest earnings briefing that it plans to be choosier about what it greenlights going forward. On the back of a $217 million drop in net sales last year despite the outsized success of Dragon Quest III HD-2D, the company revealed a three-year plan to “reboot and awaken” long-term growth. It includes “various initiatives to improve productivity by utilizing AI” as well as releasing fewer games.

“Under the new management structure, we reviewed all projects at our domestic studios, including HD and SD titles, and decided to discontinue development of some titles and invest additional funds in titles that require refinement, thereby steadily implementing a strategy of selecting and concentrating development resources,” the company wrote in its presentation. It also wants to “establish a mid- to long-term pipeline to achieve a shift from quantity to quality.”

Square Enix had recently been flooding the zone with a ton of games—Chocobo GP, Forspoken, Valkyrie Elysium, Foamstars, Visions of Mana—many of which either severely underperformed or just never quite hit. Under this new approach, it looks like the publisher is following in the footsteps of other big gaming companies and retreating into its biggest franchises. The Final Fantasy machine will continue with the final part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, Final Fantasy XIV, and eventually Final Fantasy XVII. Alongside Kingdom Hearts IV, Dragon Quest XII also remains in development.

It seems safe to expect that Square Enix will continue porting, remastering, or remaking other gems from its back catalog, and reportedly has a new version of cult favorite Final Fantasy Tactics in the works. But outside of its existing heavy hitters, it’s not clear where Square Enix will be pouring its resources next, and whether it still has any appetite for calculated but bold bets on new franchises. One new project might give us a clue. The publisher did reveal a partnership with Japan TV station TBS to “combine the experience and strengths they have cultivated in their respective fields to collaborate on the development of a completely new, original IP game for both domestic and international audiences.” It’ll probably be years, though, before we see what that game ends up being.