Will Square Enix Really Be Able To Release ‘Kingdom Hearts IV’ In 2027?
by Sage Ashford
During last week’s D23 event, Square-Enix made not one, but multiple appearances revealing information on Kingdom Hearts IV, the next adventure for Sora and his allies, Donald and Goofy. This new story sees Sora trying to escape the world of Quadratum, while Donald and Goofy travel into the Underworld in the hopes of finding him. Fittingly, the first Disney world shown as they explore the Underworld is Coco‘s Land of the Dead, which Tetsuya Nomura says “synergizes with overall the main story progression with Sora”.
The big surprise though, was Square-Enix revealing that they planned to release the game sometime in late 2027. Naturally though, this led fans to speculate the likelihood of the game being pushed back in 2028, given how long they usually have to wait. However, both directors Tai Yasue and Tetsuya Nomura have pushed back against this:
Tai Yasue promised directly, “I can confidently say, and promise, that it will launch in 2027. Schedule-wise, development is very smooth. It’s not like an 80 percent thing, 90 percent — it’s a 100 percent thing. So we’ll be there in 2027 for sure. I promise you that.”
Meanwhile, Nomura pushed back directly against people doubting them:
“We announced that the game is going to be coming in late 2027, and I saw some people online saying that maybe the actual release date might still get pushed back. I just wanted to set the record straight: that is not happening. We are launching in 2027. So I hope that people look forward to the game coming in 2027. Marketing for the game has just begun, so I hope that people look forward to hearing more news as well.”
Given both directors are this positive, it sounds more like they already have a specific release date in mind, and just haven’t announced it yet. It feels insane to think Final Fantasy VII Revelation and Kingdom Hearts IV will both launch in the same year, but considering Square’s largely quiet 2026, perhaps 2027 is the year to balance things out. Now if only Dragon Quest fans could get the next major installment of their game.
Kingdom Hearts IV is scheduled for release on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series, and Steam.
