Ever since Sora landed in a version of Shibuya in the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts III, fans have wondered if it'll lead to a bigger cross-over between the Kingdom Hearts series and The World Ends With You.
The two series have previously met, with Sora and Riku interacting with the main characters from The World Ends With You in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. With the announcement of a sequel to The World Ends With You and the introduction to Quadratum in Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind and Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory it looked like the two series might become companion series after all. That is, until Tetsuya Nomura shot the idea down.
Speaking with gamekult in a paywalled article, the question was posed if a multiverse between the two series was emerging:
The hidden ending of Kingdom Hearts III seems to open the door to a multiverse between the two franchises. Will NEO The World Ends with You continue in this direction?
Tetsuya Nomura: There is no connection between the two. The area seen in Kingdom Hearts III and the Shibuya in NEO The World Ends with You are two completely different places.
The question was also posed by Gamepro, to which Nomura gave the same response:
When asked if NEO: TWEWY will include elements from Kingdom Hearts 3, Nomura, after a brief pause for thought, tersely and firmly replies, "No, no. Absolutely not." At the same time, his colleagues laugh. According to him, both Shibuyas are independent worlds.
NEO: The World Ends With You releases July 27 2021 on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. The Kingdom Hearts series is currently on a new game hiatus and it is unknown when the next game in the series will be announced. The entire series is currently playable on PlayStation 4 / PlayStation 5, Xbox One / Series S / Series X, and on PC via the Epic Games Store.
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