Publisher Square Enix has confirmed the existence of Kingdom Hearts IV. The upcoming entry in the popular Disney crossover JRPG series was shown towards the end of the Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary event over the weekend.
The accompanying announcement trailer showcases a little of what fans can expect. Most notable are the fresh visuals that seem to have taken a huge leap in graphical fidelity from Kingdom Hearts III. The series’ protagonist Sora is looking especially impressive.
Another prominent aspect of the trailer is the setting in which it takes place. Past Kingdom Hearts games have been primarily set in a variety of fantastical Disney-inspired locations. However, Kingdom Hearts IV is instead at least partially set in a more realistic world as shown by the surrounding cityscape in the trailer.
Unsurprisingly, it was also confirmed that Sora’s companions Donald and Goofy will be making a return. Joining them is Strelitzia, a mysterious new character who appears briefly in the footage below.
Will it come to PC?
Historically, the answer to this question would have been an overwhelming no. The series began life as a PlayStation exclusive before later finding its way onto Xbox. Even then, a PC port was nowhere to be seen. In fact, despite debuting in 2002, not a single Kingdom Hearts was ported to PC until just last year.
But it did finally happen, and so there’s a reasonable expectation that Kingdom Hearts IV will follow suit. After all, it isn’t as though Kingdom Hearts was ever exclusive to consoles by any contract. It just happened to work out that way. But if Square Enix is looking to maximize sales and profits, then releasing it on both consoles and PC makes the most sense.
Although if it does come to PC, don’t be surprised to not see a Steam release at launch. The series’ past installments were exclusive to the Epic Games Store, and there’s a good chance it will try to do so again.
Published: Apr 11, 2022 11:42 am