Kingdom Hearts 4 gets new update as Square Enix cancels spin-off
Square Enix has canned a previously announced Kingdom Hearts spin-off, as it looks to 'reboot' its business.
It's been over three years since Disney crossover Kingdom Hearts 4 was revealed, in April 2022, and we haven't seen or heard anything about the sequel since.
Square Enix also announced a mobile spin-off entitled Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link during the same 20th anniversary video. The GPS-based action role-playing game received a closed 'prototype test' in January 2023 and was originally supposed to come out in 2024, but it was delayed.
Now, Square Enix has announced Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link has been cancelled entirely, which is surprising as its story was supposed to lead into Kingdom Hearts 4.
'We wish to convey our heartfelt apologies to everyone who has been looking forward to the start of service,' an announcement post reads.
'Although we worked hard on developing and adjusting the game in the hope that it would be enjoyed by lots of players, we determined that it would be difficult for us to offer a service that players would find satisfactory over a long period of time, leading us to the decision to cancel development.
'We would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks to everyone who gave us their support and assistance with the multiple closed beta tests. We are truly sorry to have to make this announcement.'
To sweeten the bad news, Square Enix provided an update on Kingdom Hearts 4, perhaps to reassure fans that it does still exist.
'The Kingdom Hearts series will continue,' the post adds. 'We are hard at work on Kingdom Hearts 4, and hope you'll continue to support the series as you keep an eye out for further updates.'
While it's unclear why we haven't seen anything from Kingdom Hearts 4 for so long, Square Enix has undergone a major overhaul to its business over the past year.
Lower than expected sales for Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth caused a shift in strategy at the company, towards a more selective, higher quality approach – resulting in many cancelled projects.
Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link appears to be another casualty of this pivot, but it is an interesting decision considering the spin-off was set to have ties to Kingdom Hearts 4's narrative.
In an interview with Game Informer from 2022, series director Tetsuya Nomura described Missing-Link as being 'connected in many ways' to the next mainline entry.
In its latest financial results, Square Enix emphasised its intention to 'reboot and awaken' its business, by promoting 'multi-platform strategies' and 'rebuilding the domestic studios portfolio', among other plans.
'Under the new management structure, we reviewed all projects at our domestic studios, including HDG and SD titles, and decided to discontinue development of some titles and invest additional funds in titles that require refinement, thereby steadily implementing a strategy of selecting and concentrating development resources,' reads the business plan.
'We will continue to control the scale of development investment in a disciplined manner.' More Trending
As part of this three year plan, Square Enix states its aim to 'shift from quantity to quality', with the intention of releasing 'major titles mainly in key IP steadily' after 2027.
Square Enix has several games planned for the Switch 2, including Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster and Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade.
Elsewhere in the plan, Square Enix announced it is working on a video game with TBS Television, the Tokyo-based network which is known for producing shows like Takeshi's Castle and Ninja Warrior.
While it's unclear when we could get another glimpse at Kingdom Hearts 4, the next likely candidate is Summer Game Fest on June 6, 2025.
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