What does it say? “We are working hard towards the 25th anniversary. Thank you for your support.” If you run the numbers again, you’ll realize that he’s referring to 2027 and almost certainly talking about Kingdom Hearts 4. What about this year? Your guess is as good as ours.

While this doesn’t necessarily mean no new details about the sequel in 2026, some fans aren’t taking it so well. In fact, some have pointed out the lack of communication over recent years. As noted by @ImanIman77502, “Telling me you’re working hard towards the 25th anniversary means we ain’t getting anything until the 25th anniversary. Which would be 5 YEARS after you initially announced it.”

@Uxian_’s post seems to share the same sentiment, posting a GIF of Mickey Mouse slicing an ultra-thin piece of bread. @YUNGJEFF was much more explicit, sharing an image of an emoji begging, perhaps for more details. Whichever way you want to slice it, there definitely hasn’t been much information on the sequel, even after all these years.

But hey, Kingdom Hearts 3 followed the same pattern for the longest time, and it was eventually released. Perhaps we’ll see a proper blowout next year. If nothing else, Nomura said last September that development is “progressing well and according to schedule,” so it’s certainly not in limbo. As always, stay tuned for more updates.

Insider NateTheHate responded to a user on Twitter about the same, stating he had seen the rumors, but “I’ve also seen notable insiders say it is fake.” While not outright denying its existence based on his own sources, he does believe that there isn’t much to it.

Which is a shame, but considering everything the original rumor claimed – from a new world set in The Jungle Book to new playable sections with Riku and even an appearance by Cait Sith – it seemed a little too good to be true. Couple this with the part about Kingdom Hearts 4 apparently following in Winter 2027 for some extra dashes of hope.

On the bright side, the long-awaited sequel isn’t languishing in limbo somewhere. Creative director Tetsuya Nomura revealed that development for it and Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 (whose title has been decided) is on track. When we’ll learn new details or see new gameplay is anyone’s guess, but the project is alive, and that’s pretty much all fans can hope for at this point.

In the newly released video, Square Enix goes over the idea order to play Kingdom Hearts games in. After mentioning that starting with the most recent release (in this case, Kingdom Hearts 3) is perfectly fine (we wouldn’t recommend it though), the video starts with going over the release order of the Dark Seeker saga.

Specifically, the video sticks with Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix, starting with then moving into Re:Chain of Memories, and then Kingdom Hearts 2. From there, it moves to Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days’ cutscene compilation (or you could just play the actual game, if you have a DS), then Birth by Sleep Final Mix, before moving to the second collection, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Chapter Prologue.

The order across three entries here is Dream Drop Distance, Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover (which, for those who don’t know, is an HD cutscene collection of what was originally a web browser game- no, seriously), and Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage. And after that, finally, there’s Kingdom Hearts 3.

Of course, many will want to play the series in its chronological order, which is something that the video goes over as well. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of detail to go over, so make sure to check out the video below.

Square Enix is currently also working on Kingdom Hearts 4, which we could allegedly see at Disney’s D23 in August, ahead of a potential release in 2025.

As for Dragon Quest, it’s crossed 85 million in global shipments and digital sales since the first title launched on the NES in 1986. Meanwhile, Kingdom Hearts has shipped over 36 million units worldwide since the first game released in 2002 for PlayStation 2.

The future looks bright for all three franchises, with Final Fantasy 16, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion all coming within the next 12 to 14 months. Kingdom Hearts 4 is also in development, though no release window has been announced. The next mainline entry in the Dragon Quest series, Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate, is also in development, but there’s also Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake and Dragon Quest Treasures (which launches in December for Nintendo Switch).

In the video, various members of the studio that made Kingdom Hearts games talk about what the franchise means to them, and the accolades Kingdom Hearts has gotten through its 2-decades-long life, including having sold over 35 million copies across the franchise’s lifetime.

Square Enix unveiled Kingdom Hearts 4 earlier this year in April, revealing that early development is underway using Unreal Engine 5.

Kingdom Hearts 4 will kick off a new story arc, dubbed the “Lost Master Arc”, which will involve Sora exploring Quadratum—a modern metropolis. The announcement trailer gave us a glimpse of Quadratum, and showed off Sora facing a massive enemy. Donald and Goofy will also be retaining for the new adventure.

For more details on Kingdom Hearts 4, here are 11 things you need to know. We also talk about where Kingdom Hearts 4‘s story could be heading next.

Announcing to the official Kingdom Hearts Twitter, Square Enix will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the series by hosting an event in Tokyo, Japan. According to the tweet, the 20th anniversary celebrations will be kicked off with a mini-concert, a Q&A and chat session with the development team of Kingdom Hearts, an exhibition related to the series, and more.

The tweet also mentions that a video of the whole event will also be made available at a later date- presumably following a live stream before that. Either way, it is great to see the series still thriving and getting love from fans all around the world.

On April 10th we're hosting a Kingdom Hearts 20th anniversary event in Tokyo!

We'll kick off the 20th anniversary celebrations with a mini concert, a chat and Q&A with the development team, an exhibition and much more. A video of the event will be made available at a later date. pic.twitter.com/gNLAs2waV6

— KINGDOM HEARTS (@KINGDOMHEARTS) January 18, 2022

New Spirits from the Kingdom Hearts series have also been added to the Shop. These include characters like Riku, Kairi, Aqua, Roxas, Terra and Ventus among others. You’ll also be able to find Razewing Ratha from Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin in the Shop and on the Spirit Board.

Check out the full patch notes below for more details. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is currently available for Nintendo Switch and has seen 12 DLC characters added post-launch including Kazuya from the Tekken series, Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Steve from Minecraft and much more. While Waluigi never got his due, it’s been a crazy run for the crossover fighter.

Ver. 13.0.0

Offline

The following spirits from the Kingdom Hearts series will appear in the Shop on the Vault menu:

• Riku
• Kairi
• Roxas
• Axel
• Xion
• Terra
• Ventus
• Aqua

The following spirits will appear on the Spirit Board and Shop:

• Razewing Ratha

General

The following downloadable content will be usable after purchase:

• Sora Challenger Pack
• Judd Hat
• Octoling Wig
• Doom Slayer Helmet + Armor

Note: You cannot make videos of replays that contain DLC you have not purchased (fighters, stages, music, Mii Fighter costumes, etc.).

• Game-balance adjustments have been made. Please see the details of fixes and changes to fighters.
• Several issues have been fixed to improve gameplay experience.

Kingdom Hearts 3 not coming to the Switch natively is sort of understandable (to some extent release), but many are disappointed that even Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue – both of which could easily run on the hardware – are also getting cloud-exclusive releases. As it turns out that, there might still be a chance of the series seeing native Switch versions down the road.

Speaking in an interview with Nintendo Life, when asked about why Square Enix decided to go for cloud releases only, series producer Ichiro Hazama said: “Bringing these titles to Nintendo Switch proved to be quite difficult for various reasons, including the storage capacity of the hardware, but we’re excited that we were able to make it happen for the first time ever by utilizing the Cloud service.”

When asked if native versions could launch down the line, Hazama said Square Enix was still “undecided” on that, but suggested that that could change based on feedback from players. “At this moment in time, the production of a native version is undecided,” he said. “We believe that the Cloud version is currently the best way to deliver the Kingdom Hearts series to Nintendo Switch players, but we are always excited to hear to feedback from our fans and want to thank them for all their support.”

There’s no word yet on when exactly Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts 3 will launch for the Switch. Sora, however, will be added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tomorrow, on October 18.

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts 3 are all coming to the Nintendo Switch- though there is a catch. They will only be available as cloud releases. That is a little disappointing, especially since pretty much all of those games (perhaps with the exception of Kingdom Hearts 3) are quite old and can easily run natively on the Switch hardware. Either way, Switch players have been waiting for Kingdom Hearts on the platform for quite a long time, so at least it’s here now.

No release date has been announced for the trio of titles, but Nintendo says more information will be revealed soon, so hopefully we won’t have to wait much longer for those details.

This just in – the #KingdomHearts games are coming to #NintendoSwitch!

✨ KINGDOM HEARTS – HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix –
✨ KINGDOM HEARTS HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
✨ KINGDOM HEARTS III

All three titles will be playable as cloud versions. Look forward to more information soon! pic.twitter.com/VtoiCJzxKp

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) October 5, 2021

That means you can expect more new content from Kingdom Hearts as well, including a stage (Rising Falls, with Hollow Bastion visible in the background), and new music added to the game. Game director Masahiro Sakurai has also gone in-depth with how Sora will play, how he will move, what his moveset will be, what his strengths and weaknesses are, his Final Smash, and more. Check out the full presentation below.

Of course, as with all previous DLC releases for the game, this final one will also come with new costumes for the Mii Fighter character. These are Doom Slayer from DOOM (not the way we wanted the Doom Slayer in Smash, but something’s better than nothing), Judd the Cat, and Octoling from Splatoon.

All of this new content will be added to the game on October 18.