Square Enix wowed fans and critics alike with a stunning reveal of Kingdom Hearts 4. Setting the stage with a new location, mysterious characters, and a gargantuan Heartless decimating a familiar-looking spot, the next major installment is checking all the hype train boxes. But, one of the more pressing questions was “When will it be released?”
No release date was given during the announcement or in the trailer itself. However, since gameplay was shown in the trailer, it is safe to assume development is moving along. If we’re lucky and Kingdom Hearts 4 doesn’t fall into development hell like its predecessor, we may see it in 2024 at the earliest.
Kingdom Hearts 3 was stuck in a near-endless series of setbacks and changes that prolonged the development. While initially shown at E3 2013, the game wouldn’t see release for another six years. Part of this was due to the Kingdom Hearts team working on Final Fantasy Versus XIII which turned into Final Fantasy XV. Another complicating factor was the decision to change game engines over a year into the project and moving to Unreal Engine 4. Hopefully, with the team focused on this project and familiar with the development engine, fans will see a more timely release.
For more Kingdom Hearts goodies, check out What is Quadratum in Kingdom Hearts? on Pro Game Guides.
