When are we expecting news?

[Chie]

They're probably not supposed to, but the behind the scenes on all of this seems like it must be a total mess for things to take as long as they do, so it probably does affect something somewhere in the process. Esp. now that Genshin Impact opened the horrible door to "you can put real-game-quality environments and models and cutscenes into a garbage abuse machine", which I'm sure was the best day every executive in the industry ever experienced.

 

[HakaishinChampa]

I could forgive it if it's like, it's just taking that long for the team to cook up something really good. Game development is messy and sometimes non-linear, I get it.

My sneaking suspicion, though, is that at least part of the reason it's taking longer than expected has to do with a) Disney being overly hands-on with their properties (especially if we've got Star Wars in the mix); b) Missing-Link development issues siphoning critical staff because SE execs are hell-bent on trend-chasing live-service/geolocation bullshit; or both. Could be wrong though.

A is probably right.

Frozen 2 will probably be in this game and I imagine Disney is going to make it hell for Square Enix.

Lot's of negotiations will be happening though at least some properties have less restrictions, that's probably why we see Olympus so much.

 

[MATGSY]

Now that FF7R released, I feel like we'll start seeing trailers this year.

They'd probably want to give FF7R a few weeks at minimum before promoting KH4.

I feel like we'll get a trailer in April because that would be 2 years since the previous KH4 trailer.

 

[Luminary]

There’s like some crossover work between the teams. But not in a way that it would prevent KH4 from meeting whatever internal target date they’ve set. We also don’t know how much SE is even doing themselves vs a third party like BitGroove.

If anything, ML could be a training ground for newer staff to work with Unreal Engine before moving to bigger projects.

As for what’s causing it to take so long, I don’t think it’s necessarily Disney either. Especially when they’ve been giving more freedom to game developers in recent years.

I think the biggest culprit is the switch to UE5. I think it was Hamaguchi from the Rebirth team that said if they had switched to UE5, that the game would have taken longer to release due to issues with engine. That’s probably what KH4 has been experiencing. Had they kept it on UE4, it probably would have been out before Rebirth. I hope the switch is worth it in the end though.

Xbox has a Partner Preview on Wednesday showing third party titles. I don’t expect KH to show up there this soon after Rebirth (or that Xbox would get the KH4 re-reveal regardless), but I’m hoping maybe Visions of Mana will get a release date since it was at the last Xbox event. FFXIV Dawntrail and FFXVI DLC will likely get their release dates at their respective panels at PAX East on the 22nd and 23rd.

 

[gulava]

Now that FF7R released, I feel like we'll start seeing trailers this year.

They'd probably want to give FF7R a few weeks at minimum before promoting KH4.

I feel like we'll get a trailer in April because that would be 2 years since the previous KH4 trailer.

i want to get my hopes up but four ff games came out since kh3 has been released and we have yet to hear any updates

 

[Luminary]

i want to get my hopes up but four ff games came out since kh3 has been released and we have yet to hear any updates

The difference here is that the FFVII Remake series and KH both fall under CBU1 and more specifically Nomura’s jurisdiction. I’ve mentioned before, but Remake didn’t get any updates aside from a couple screenshots for 4 years while KH was getting steady updates from 2017 onward. Once KH3 was released, Remake was shown a few months later and released the following year.

Since Rebirth was able to be developed faster than KH4 by keeping the same engine and no big graphic style changes, this time the focus was on it first. But now (hopefully) will shift to KH4.

 

[HakaishinChampa]

i want to get my hopes up but four ff games came out since kh3 has been released and we have yet to hear any updates

FF is Square Enix's baby, it makes sense why they get so many games.

Only reason we haven't heard anything was because of Rebirth's marketing but SE should be free to market KH4 whenever they want now.

I feel like KH4 will come out next year but they'll have to start marketing soon if it does.

 

[Chie]

Monthly reminder that that's never been a rule before this very modern, very late-capitalist era (and still probably isn't an actual 'rule'). I hope people know that by now but I feel the need to point it out when it's presented as an objective reason why they "can't" talk about kh4 at all for two damn years

 

[celebi]

I know it is highly unlikely, but I'am on a heavy dose of copium that we will see something KH related at the Xbox Partner thingy, as for someone who couldnt care less for the FF7 remakes I really need some KH news, even a drawing of Sora's shoes would be enough at this point, just give me something I cant wait anymore....

 

[HakaishinChampa]

I know it is highly unlikely, but I'am on a heavy dose of copium that we will see something KH related at the Xbox Partner thingy, as for someone who couldnt care less for the FF7 remakes I really need some KH news, even a drawing of Sora's shoes would be enough at this point, just give me something I cant wait anymore....

That would be cool but I have a feeling that KH4 will be PS5 exclusive. I suppose any Kingdom Hearts news could show up like a spinoff announcement

 

[celebi]

Well, back to the waiting game.

I don't know why Square Enix can't put out a simple tweet or any kind of update with even a small amount of information, like 'Development is going well, expect more information this summer,' or something similar. But I suppose years of silence are better for keeping their fanbase entertained...

 

[Luminary]

Someone who correctly leaked that Ghost of Tsushima would have its PC port announced today also claimed that game’s sequel will be announced at a mid-year PlayStation Showcase. The showcase has been rumored for May by others, which lines up with the GoT port releasing May 16th. I could see KH4 showing up there if it doesn’t sooner.

 

[Phoenix]

This really does feel like the post KH2 world all over again. Or a post BBS world, I forget which was the one that started the drought until DDD.

 

[Chie]

Neither? There wasn't at any point a drought "until DDD", the post-2 full games (Days -> BBS -> re:Coded -> DDD) were yearly releases. Any news pales in comparison to a full RPG every year lol

 

[Phoenix]

You're definitely right, but I had a memory of falling out of the fandom because of the wait, so I went and double checked.

DDD came out in 2012. The next non remake was χ on the browser, which I hadn't even heard of, but in NA came out in 2016. 2.8 then came out with 0.2 (the only new game in the bunch, which was tiny) in 2017, and then KH3 came out in 2019. If you don't count the browser and mobile games (which never appealed to me, but might to you) the wait between real, normal games was 7 years. That's not small.

With this in mind, MoM came out in 2020, so a 2027 KH4 (with remakes and tech demos in between) would be perfectly possible.

 

[celebi]

You're definitely right, but I had a memory of falling out of the fandom because of the wait, so I went and double checked.

DDD came out in 2012. The next non remake was χ on the browser, which I hadn't even heard of, but in NA came out in 2016. 2.8 then came out with 0.2 (the only new game in the bunch, which was tiny) in 2017, and then KH3 came out in 2019. If you don't count the browser and mobile games (which never appealed to me, but might to you) the wait between real, normal games was 7 years. That's not small.

With this in mind, MoM came out in 2020, so a 2027 KH4 (with remakes and tech demos in between) would be perfectly possible.

Jesus Christ, 2027 would be devastating. I really hope, and also think, we will get it sooner than that.

Someone who correctly leaked that Ghost of Tsushima would have its PC port announced today also claimed that game’s sequel will be announced at a mid-year PlayStation Showcase. The showcase has been rumored for May by others, which lines up with the GoT port releasing May 16th. I could see KH4 showing up there if it doesn’t sooner.

I hope we will get something sooner than May, but if not I do hope Sony would be willing to feature KH and GoT 2 in one showcase, as I can imagine that they would like to push a sequel to GoT as their big thing in that rumored showcase, but maybe I am wrong with that impression and there would be place for some KH stuff.

 

[Phoenix]

The numbers get even worse when you just consider new, serious console titles. Between KH2 for the PS2 and KH3 for the PS4 was 13 (hah!) years. An entire generation passed without a mainline full new KH title on the console, when the previous two had released on the same generation, and that's including CoM between them.

Mind you, I don't think they have the same challenges now. Nomura was bogged down with projects back then, and I think there was an engine change. If we have the same wait between mainline new titles, something has gone deeply wrong at SE.

For my part, I think there's been a lost of wasted time and resources, at least for the things I prioritise. There's been two (admittedly small) gacha games, with a third one incoming. I don't care what they say, that *must* suck dev time. Even if they really have one dude on Dark Road, there's an opportunity cost where they won't want to make an actual good game to avoid cannibalising the player base. Or on KH3, the entirety of Let It Go must've cost so much time and energy, and is a technical marvel, but the result is a musical piece that has no gameplay or story value, and that already exists. Or back to ML, it's obviously taking longer than they thought, but to what end? Yet another phone game that is going to EoS in a year? Just spend your resources on a normal KH game, goddamn.

 

[Luminary]

Well, back to the waiting game.

I don't know why Square Enix can't put out a simple tweet or any kind of update with even a small amount of information, like 'Development is going well, expect more information this summer,' or something similar. But I suppose years of silence are better for keeping their fanbase entertained...

Hoping we get a question on what is next for him in a post-release interview for Rebirth or something. Or just outright ask what KH4’s status is. Lol. I can’t say I’m not a little jealous of fans of Asano, Yoshi-P, and Yoko Taro’s projects as they’ve all given updates or teases on their upcoming projects recently. Even Yoji Horii has given a couple breadcrumbs on DQXII and DQ3 Remake. Which makes me think the reason we haven’t heard anything is the less an SE thing and more a Nomura thing.

Jesus Christ, 2027 would be devastating. I really hope, and also think, we will get it sooner than that.


I hope we will get something sooner than May, but if not I do hope Sony would be willing to feature KH and GoT 2 in one showcase, as I can imagine that they would like to push a sequel to GoT as their big thing in that rumored showcase, but maybe I am wrong with that impression and there would be place for some KH stuff.

The original GoT was actually in the same showcase as KH3’s POTC world reveal. So it wouldn’t be unheard of. Sony isn’t releasing any first party franchise exclusives until after March 2025, so it’ll be at least that long until GoT 2 releases.

With that in mind, most of the showcase will likely revolve around 3rd party titles releasing in the fall/winter. Two other games that are likely to show up are Star Wars Outlaws and Silent Hill 2 Remake. If the rumors are true that the PS5 Pro is coming this fall, it will probably be announced there too.

If KH4 does end up being PS5 exclusive, maybe they want to reveal it alongside that PS5 Pro announcement?

I still think with Missing Link coming too, they may do their own independent presentation, shadow drop, etc. to show both together. But others have made a good point that the first KH4 trailer has very low views compared to the KH3 trailers likely because it was buried behind mobile game announcements. So I could see them showing KH4 at the PlayStation event and then just dropping something for Missing Link online separately.

If they do show both at an event, Summer Games Fest is the most likely since it isn’t platform specific.

 

[Luminary]

A concert tour for Rebirth was announced today. The first stop is Los Angeles on August 10th. That’s the same weekend D23 is happening in Anaheim 8/9-8/11. It’d be perfect timing for Nomura to take the trip to atrend the concert and show KH4 at the latter.

FFVII Rebirth Orchestra World Tour

Presented by AWR Music, experience all new symphonic arrangements of the music of FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH including beloved scores by Nobuo Uematsu and exciting new contributions from Mitsuto Suzuki, Masashi Hamauzu, and many other esteemed composers and arrangers, performed by an orchestra and ch

www.ffvii-rebirthconcerts.com

 

[celebi]

A concert tour for Rebirth was announced today. The first stop is Los Angeles on August 10th. That’s the same weekend D23 is happening in Anaheim 8/9-8/11. It’d be perfect timing for Nomura to take the trip to atrend the concert and show KH4 at the latter.

FFVII Rebirth Orchestra World Tour

Presented by AWR Music, experience all new symphonic arrangements of the music of FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH including beloved scores by Nobuo Uematsu and exciting new contributions from Mitsuto Suzuki, Masashi Hamauzu, and many other esteemed composers and arrangers, performed by an orchestra and ch

www.ffvii-rebirthconcerts.com

Well, let's just hope we will get something on KH before that. August jesus that is even more grim than waiting till Summers Game Fest in June (|||❛︵❛.).