Kingdom Hearts 4 Fans Pine For Update on 2nd Anniversary of Its Announcement

Kingdom Hearts 4 was announced two years ago today, April 10, 2024, and fans are pining for an update from developer Square Enix.

Discussing the anniversary on Reddit, fans were forced to assure each other the Kingdom Hearts 4 reveal wasn't just a shared fever dream but did actually happen, as despite coming out big with a lengthy trailer, Square Enix hasn't made any official announcements about the game since.

"I'm still not certain any of this even happened," joked JustAquietwallflower. "Like, is any of this for real or not? I'm so ready to cry over a new trailer."

Fans were also quick, if not a little pained, to point out Kingdom Hearts 3 was released more than five years after its reveal trailer, which perhaps explains why they have a sense of humor about the lengthy wait for more information.

"I'm convinced [creator Tetsuya] Nomura thinks Kingdom Hearts fans don't age," said forgedfox3. "Only 11 years to go for its release," added Malkaz45. "Kingdom Hearts 4 isn't coming out until there are four to six lore critical games on disparate platforms," said patmorgan234.

That's because, despite being called Kingdom Hearts 4, the incoming title is far from the fourth game in the series. Between Kingdom Hearts 2 and 3, Square Enix released other entries (most of which had important story developments) including Re:Chain of Memories, Coded, 358/2 Days, Birth by Sleep, Re:coded, Dream Drop Distance, 1.5 Remix, 2.5 Remix, and 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue.

The franchise hasn't been as busy since Kingdom Hearts 4 was announced though. Its reveal trailer showed flashy gameplay with protagonist Sora but Square Enix said this was from an Unreal Engine 4 demo, whereas the actual game will be made in Unreal Engine 5.

Fans are just desperate for any sort of announcement, though. "Final Fantasy fans have been eating good," said DonovanKreed. "Meanwhile us Kingdom Hearts fans are stuck in purgatory." The Final Fantasy series, of which Kingdom Hearts is a spin-off and also from Square Enix, has had three mainline releases since Kingdom Hearts 3 was released (in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Final Fantasy 16, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth) alongside myriad substantial updates to massively multiplayer online game Final Fantasy 14.

Some fans are taking this as a good sign, however. "Now that Rebirth is out, I really hope and believe that there will be news about Kingdom Hearts 4 soon," said Alex de Souza on ResetEra. "It's up there with Hollow Knight: Silksong and Death Stranding 2 as my most anticipated game."

Only time will tell when Square Enix shares more about Kingdom Hearts 4, but fans will continue to wait patiently in the meantime. Its reveal trailer has already been analyzed completely, and some even think there's evidence of a Star Wars section.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.