Kingdom Hearts 4 has returned. Square Enix first announced the latest mainline game in the series back in 2022. Now, at this week’s D23 event, Disney showed off a new trailer for Kingdom Hearts 4. And what’s more, it shares a late 2027 release window for the game.
The trailer begins with a scene between Hector and Miguel from Pixar’s Coco. You’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s actually a Coco trailer, it looks that good. But the arrival of Sora in the Land of the Dead lets us know that yes, this is a trailer for Kingdom Hearts 4. We get to see Sora’s new keyblade, a heartless battle, and a team up with Hector.
It also sheds a bit more light (and darkness) on the overarching Kingdom Hearts plot. I’ll chat a bit more about that below. First, check out the trailer for yourself.
In the second half of the trailer, the action switches to Mickey in a library, saying, “This is a lot of new information.” No kidding, Mickey!
Sora appearing in the Land of the Dead from Coco not only ropes in a fun Pixar film, it also aligns with the plot of the games. When we last saw Sora in Kingdom Hearts 3—or rather, didn’t—he had faded away after using forbidden magic to bring back his friends. If it made for a beguiling ending to the third game, it seems the perfect excuse to bring in Disney worlds in the fourth.
Case in point, we see Donald and Goofy in the underworld from Hercules, chatting to Hades about finding Sora. They’re surprised that he didn’t make it to that version of the afterlife. He’s in a different one! The afterlife from Coco! It’ll be interesting to see what other Disney properties with spirit realms the game might incorporate. Maybe The Princess and the Frog or The Haunted Mansion?
Lastly, the trailer returns us to the Shibuya-like realm of Quadratum. Sora showed up here in the secret ending to Kingdom Hearts 3. We see him call out to Strelitzia and Sigurd, characters from the mobile game Kingdom Hearts Union X. In that game, Strelitzia decides to aid the protagonist, but she’s struck down before she has the chance. It makes sense that she’d appear in Quadratum, as much like Sora, she faded away with unfinished business.
Thankfully, we won’t have to wait another four years to learn more. Disney and Square Enix announced that Kingdom Hearts 4 will arrive in late 2027. It will come to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. In the meantime, we see more info later today, August 15th, in a D23 livestream at 4:30 PM PT / 7:30 PM ET.
