Fans think new Kingdom Hearts update sounds like ‘free money’ for Square Enix
It looks like Square Enix has the key to our 'hearts,' as the future of Kingdom Hearts is about to get a lot bigger. While we've heard about some struggles behind the scenes with Final Fantasy, the developer's other biggest IP is poised to go from strength to strength.
We've heard a lot about Square Enix's new strategy, taking a leaf out of Capcom's book and aiming for multi-platform releases. While this is sure to rattle those who grew up with Kingdom Hearts on the PS2, times are changing. Now, one leaker has a deluge of Kingdom Hearts leaks that cue the future of the franchise.
Kingdom Hearts rumours are good news for the franchise
According to trusted leaker Midori, Kingdom Hearts 4 is coming along nicely but looks 'very' different to what we first saw when the game was announced in April 2022. However, with two years of development between then and now, what else did you expect?
The implication is that Kingdom Hearts 4 will ditch its more realistic graphics that we saw in the announcement trailer. This is good news for those who critiqued the lifelike look of the trailer, claiming it looked a little uncanny valley and was leaning too hard on a Final Fantasy aesthetic.
They add that Kingdom Hearts 4 will include "small online features." Although it's unclear what these features are, fans have suggested it will be similar to the StreetPass mechanics that allowed us to share user-customised content like in 3D and Re:coded. This isn't where things end.
Getting into bed with Nintendo
Click to enlargeElsewhere, Midori claims the 'entire' Kingdom Hearts catalogue could be coming to the Switch 2. Although Square Enix is no stranger to exclusivity deals (we're looking at the FF7 remakes), we'd always hoped that Kingdom Hearts would land on the upcoming Switch successor.
As for the classic titles, there was disappointment that some of the older games arrived on the Switch via the Cloud. Midori doesn't confirm it as gospel, but it's definitely implied that all KH games could be getting their own native versions for the Switch 2.
Over on the GamingLeaksandRumours subreddit, fans were overjoyed that the family-friendly franchise could be celebrating a lucrative future with Nintendo. One gamer cheered, "Kingdom Hearts coming to Steam and now possibly coming on Switch 2. As a PC and Nintendo Gamer that likes Kingdom Hearts this type of news is great."
Another added, "If they got KH on the next Switch the first year, it would probably keep on selling for the life of the system," and a third said, "Doesn't surprise me, it's essentially free money for Square." Whatever is going on with Kingdom Hearts, it appears it's much more than just KH4 kickstarting the "Lost Master" story arc.
