As part of the Kingdom Hearts 20th-anniversary celebration, Square Enix and Disney delighted fans by confirming the development of the new installment of the franchise, Kingdom Hearts IV, during a showcase last night.
Included in the announcement is a new mobile game that is coming to the franchise called Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link. In the 20th anniversary trailer, fans learned the mobile game will come to iOS and Android as a closed beta test in 2022. Square Enix has told fans Kingdom Hearts IV is in the early stages of development and, as a result, will likely not have a release date for some time.
In the latter half of the trailer, fans got a peek at what Kingdom Hearts IV will look like. Set in a world called Quadratum, Sora looks older than he has in previous iterations of the game. Quadratum is “a large, expansive city set in a gorgeous, realistic world unlike anything ever seen before in a Kingdom Hearts series,” Square Enix said in a press release.
For a game that is early in development, fans were surprised with a small peek at gameplay when a Heartless appears in the middle of the big city. New mechanics were revealed in the snippet when Sora used his Keyblade to perform new actions, such as grappling onto cars.
Square Enix further explained that the new storyline is titled the Lost Master Arc. Donald and Goofy return for the adventure along with a mysterious new character named Strelitzia.
“Sora is an original Disney video game hero like no other, beloved by our team, and fans across the world. We’ve been honored to work with Tetsuya Nomura and his team for two decades to introduce these original stories of discovery, courage, and friendship,” said director of Walt Disney Games Nana Gadd. “This glimpse into Sora’s next adventure is just the beginning – we can’t wait to show more when the time is right.”
Along with the announcement of the two new games, there is some special merchandise available for sale in the Square Enix store for pre-order.
Because the game is in early development, there is no release date at this time. There were also no indications in the press release or in the announcement trailer as to what platforms the game would be available on when the game releases.
