Kingdom Hearts 4 director Tetsuya Nomura revealed that the upcoming sequel changed direction after it was announced, but didn’t explain why or how.
As revealed by Twitter user @aibo_ac7 (opens in a new tab) (and translated by @aitaïkimochi (opens in a new tab)), Nomura appeared at the Kingdom Hearts Second Breath concert in Tokyo this weekend and revealed that something happened shortly after Kingdom Hearts 4 was announced that “set direction” of the series.
Joining series composer Yoko Shimomura on stage, Nomura said, “Last year, after the Kingdom Hearts event, something happened that determined the direction of the Kingdom Hearts series.” This was apparently news to Shimomura, who replied, “Huh what? What happened?” to which Nomura replied, “Oh, you didn’t know? I’ll tell you behind the scenes.”
This understandably sent fans into a frenzy and left us wondering what happened after the 20th anniversary event and what it means for the future of the series.
Nomura: So, yeah, something happened last year that determined the direction of Kingdom Hearts going forward. Yoko Shimomura: *Confused* Nomura: *Don’t give stage details* Kingdom Hearts Fans: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Nomura: Anyway, goodbye. pic.twitter.com/9vZsvj1UYvMarch 19, 2023
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KH fans when Nomura shows up at an event and reveals some mysterious information with no context to drive us all crazy #KingdomHearts pic.twitter.com/lHCaz5CC34March 19, 2023
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One of the most popular theories floating around online is that Disney’s involvement in the Square Enix series might have changed; that seems extremely unlikely, though if you remove Disney from Kingdom Hearts you’ll miss out on many of the series’ key characters, stories, and themes so far.
It’s even less plausible when you remember we saw Donald and Goofy (and maybe even Hades) in the Kingdom Hearts 4 announcement trailer last year. Not only that, but shortly after Square Enix unveiled Kingdom Hearts 4’s new, much more realistic art style, Nomura reassured would-be gamers that Disney fans shouldn’t worry that Kingdom Hearts 4 feels “slightly different”.
Guess Disney will drop Kingdom Hearts. ‘Do you realize that Disney owns Kingdom Hearts? Square Enix may be the ones making the games, but it’s basically Disney intellectual property. Without Disney, there is no KH. They are here to stay.March 20, 2023
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Additionally, KH continues to bring elements of Disney. I’m just saying pic.twitter.com/2cz1QMqHDIMarch 19, 2023
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Kingdom Hearts won’t kill Disney because Kingdom Hearts is nothing without Disney. The entire base and foundations are littered with mouse hands. This link is forever.March 19, 2023
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Nomura may have been referring to Final Fantasy’s role in the upcoming game. As we already know, Nomura doesn’t know if we’ll get more Final Fantasy characters in Kingdom Hearts 4, especially since there are had an obvious lack of it in Kingdom Hearts 3.
Right now, we’re all going to have to stay on the edge of our seats until we get another Kingdom Hearts 4 update.
In the meantime, discover 10 Disney Worlds We Want To See In Kingdom Hearts 4.