Square Enix’s absolute hit Kingdom Hearts 3 development cycle took almost 10 years, and developers don’t seem to stop. In January 2020, Square Enix launched the Re Mind DLC to show that the franchise continues. But what will come next? It looks like the last chapter has told us everything that such an unusual game can tell. While the continuation remains unconfirmed, we gathered all the facts and rumors about the possible future game in the Kingdom Hearts universe. Read on to know about the possible release date and contents. 

When Kingdom Hearts IV Will Be Released?

Currently, Kingdom Hearts IV isn’t officially confirmed by Square Enix or Disney. However, the impressive rating and sales figures speak for themselves. On February 4 2019, after just 2 weeks of sales, Square Enix reported about over 5 million copies sold. Moreover, it’s been the best-selling game in many countries, including Japan and the USA. It means that fans would love to see another Kingdom Hearts game in the nearest future. 

Based on the absence of any information about the development of Kingdom Hearts IV, we can conclude that the game won’t come earlier than in 3 years. The earliest possible release date is late 2023. It’s much faster than the 3rd installment, but still quite a long development cycle. 

Can It Possibly Happen?

In his interview with Ultimania Tetsuya Nomura, the game director of Kingdom Hearts 3, said that he would like to combine his efforts on different projects. He also added that he must write something else before doing so. The interview took place in early 2019, so we can conclude that Nomura was talking about the 2020 Re Mind DLC. He’s also been working on Final Fantasy VII Remake, so it’s hard to guess. We can also think that he was insinuating that the writing of the next Kingdom Hearts narrative has already started. The opposite is as likely to be true. 

We know some good news too! The Kingdom Hearts series will present other games before the official announcement of the next major encounter. Searching for details about Kingdom Hearts IV, we found some detail on the official Twitter account of the publisher. The tweet claimed that the next Kingdom Hearts chapter would come out sooner than we might expect. To be honest, we saw the same tweet in 2015, but Square Enix delayed Kingdom Hearts 3 multiple times later. Let’s hope for the best, though.

Although the aforementioned facts lead us to scepsis, there are other things that make us continue to think positively. If you take the latest secretively developed releases into consideration, you will see that the company has changed the approach to production over the decade. Another Square Enix Twitter conversation revealed that there are 2 independent studios involved in Kingdom Hearts series development. One of them is busy making DLCs for the current major game Kingdom Hearts 3 for Xbox One and PS4. The second team 4 is responsible for the mobile spinoff, Kingdom Hearts Union. This means that new games in the franchise will be developed much faster. 

Another proof of the developer’s new proactive approach is the announcement of the next Kingdom Hearts mobile installment, Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road. It was preceded by Tetsuya Nomura’s tweet that said: “the Kingdom Hearts UX team will have a surprising announcement tomorrow.” It was a surprising twist after years of false promises and delays. And it also means that the second team will soon come up with another Kingdom Hearts 3 DLC or an announcement of the next chapter. 

What We Know About Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road?

The recently announced Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road is not as secretive as the continuation of the mainline series. We do even know the approximate release date! It will be released on Spring 2020. 

The upcoming game will tell us a side story of Xehanort. The young boy wants to figure out why he became a Seeker of Darkness in times before the main Kingdom Hearts storyline begins. After the announcement, we spotted a post on the official Twitter account of the Kingdom Heart Union. It revealed that Eraqus would be one of the main characters of the mobile game. The gameplay of the title remains secret, but we expect it to be similar to the console game as it adds a valuable part to the story. 

Will Kingdom Hearts Remain a Console Exclusive?

Answering the question about Kingdom Hearts 3 upcoming DLCs, Square Enix claimed that the Re Mind DLC is the last DLC for the game. Moreover, they won’t release any updates anymore. So what is the studio working on? A new Kingdom Hearts game! We found a message in the Q&A section of the official website, which says that the Kingdom Hearts team is already working on the next game. 

Kingdom Hearts Plot Theory [KH3 Spoilers Alert]

While the main game ending didn’t give us a lot of clues, the secret ending of the Re Mind DLC let us guess the continuation. First of all, the Organization XIII led by the Master of Masters will become much more important to the entire story. We also discovered that the Master of Masters has some relations with the Luxord.

The potential continuation may also continue the story of Yozora, who was first presented as a ToyStory universe member. Yoroza appeared at the end of the Re Mind DLC during the final boss fight. Besides, the final scene reveals unexpected connections with Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XV, leaving us perplexed. 

Another prognosis suggests that the next game may become a crossover with The World Ends With You. During Kingdom Hearts 3, Sora enters Shibuya several times, where we can see the 104 building, which can be found only in The World Ends With You. 

Let’s Wait

That’s all we know about the possibly upcoming sequel and spinoffs of Kingdom Hearts 3. We are tweaking the changes, so add the website to bookmarks if you want to know more. We also want to know your thoughts about it, so join the conversation in the comments and share the article with other fans!