With a few days to unpack this year’s D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, we’re left with some awesome content to look forward to. Star Wars is moving full steam ahead with another season of Ahsoka. Meanwhile, superhero fatigue just got a major espresso shot with the drop of a new Avengers: Doomsday trailer. But it was the House of Mouse itself that proved it still has plenty of magic left in its wand. The company shocked fans with the surprise announcement of a Kingdom Hearts anime series. The show is based on the video game franchise co-developed by Disney and Square Enix. Their two-decade-long relationship has forged a legacy that is equal parts massive commercial juggernaut and absolute narrative fever dream.
Corporate Roommates
All the way back in 2002, Square Enix and Disney shook up the gaming industry with the release of Kingdom Hearts. While it wasn’t uncommon for movie and game studios to collaborate, it was generally a very transactional affair. Each entity pretty much stayed in its respective lane. In the past, Disney would hire companies like Sega or Capcom on a one-to-one basis to adapt hit animated films or series. These partnerships were generally treated as an arm of marketing. Typically, capitalizing on hot properties and the explosion of 1990s gaming culture.
However, proximity can merge those lanes. In the mid-to-late 1990s, Square and Disney happened to share office space in the same Meguro, Tokyo building. Both companies were financially in great places; Square had just found massive global success with the historic release of Final Fantasy VII, while Disney was enjoying its legendary 90s animation renaissance.
Love in an Elevator
Riding the coattails of Final Fantasy VII‘s success, series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and producer Shinji Hashimoto were eager to try their hands at creating an open-world action-adventure game. It’s a feat their rival, Nintendo, had recently achieved with the landmark release of Super Mario 64. The two jokingly expressed that such a risky, expensive production could only be justified with the star power of Disney characters. A partnership of that scale, they reasoned, would perfectly bridge the massive marketing gap when pitted against the global popularity of Nintendo’s Mario franchise.
Overhearing the conversation, Final Fantasy VII character designer Tetsuya Nomura edged his way into the discussion and eagerly offered to direct the hypothetical venture. This brainstorming session bore legendary fruit when Hashimoto happened to share a chance elevator ride with a famously “unnamed” Disney executive. He excitedly pitched the plan on the spot. Quick shoptalk led to boardroom meetings, which led to signed NDAs. Just like that, Kingdom Hearts was officially born, with Tetsuya Nomura stepping into the director’s chair.
Less is More
Water-cooler talk and an elevator ride have turned into a twenty-four-year partnership. Still at the helm, Nomura has seen the release of 10 games and 3 modern compilations spread over 9 different gaming consoles. Along its twenty-four-year run, Kingdom Hearts has garnered a massive following, with the majority of fans, casual and die-hard alike, familiar with the series formula.
It’s one that sees a Keyblade-wielding kid named Sora and his staunch comrades, Donald Duck and Goofy, venture through a myriad of Disney worlds. They befriend tentpole Disney characters and free their worlds from the wretched Heartless. All while Sora desperately searches for his long-lost childhood friends. Unfortunately, that basic formula is what a lot of fans have learned to be content with, as major tentpole releases in the series have been few and far between. There have been only three main numbered entries in the franchise. And yet, 24 years and an expansive catalogue have created an exceptionally convoluted story.
Story at a Premium
Many successful franchises spawn plenty of inconsequential shovelware, but Kingdom Hearts is the unfortunate exception. While you can usually stick to a series’ numbered entries to understand the plot, that’s an absolute impossibility here. Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 dropped on the PlayStation 2 with an acceptable three-year gap. Whereas the third game took a massive 13-year hiatus, finally landing on the PlayStation 4. A full two console generations removed from its predecessors.
The elephant in the room is that for years, the majority of the lore lived outside those numbered entries. For over two decades, seven games’ worth of crucial story was scattered and locked behind various handhelds and mobile phones. It took until 2017 for Square Enix to finally start compiling everything into modern remasters.
Buckets of Bundles
As of 2026, after three separate compilations, fans finally have options to digest most of the story—with a few caveats. PlayStation owners can purchase the physical and digital exclusive Kingdom Hearts: All-In-One-Package, which is the only disc-based option that binds all three compilations together. Meanwhile, PC customers have access to the Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece, a digital bundle that includes every piece of downloadable content for the series. For years, Xbox owners were the odd ducks out, forced to buy all three previously released compilations separately through digital storefronts.
This will change for the better with the upcoming October release of Kingdom Hearts Collection [I – III]. It will be released digitally on all major platforms and physically for PlayStation. Xbox owners will finally have a feasible way to enjoy the series bundle. However, in true Kingdom Hearts fashion, this master collection again glaringly omits massive story beats from two major mobile games. It’s a problem many fans have solved by turning to YouTube story compilations.
Future Projects
Tying back to last week’s D23 event, Square Enix and Disney officially confirmed the release window for Kingdom Hearts IV. Longtime series director Tetsuya Nomura all but guaranteed a “late 2027” release window, expressly reassuring fans that online speculation of a possible delay was “NOT happening”. This much-anticipated timeline came alongside an extended trailer reveal. We got to see Sora and crew crossing paths with characters from Pixar’s Coco.
Kingdom Hearts Anime
As for the Kingdom Hearts anime, details are still tightly under wraps. Though Nomura explained he is “deeply involved,” sources confirm the series will explore an original narrative that sticks close to the franchise’s core building blocks in a bid to expand the universe. The bigger question is whether or not this series will actually have a coherent story or just make things even more complicated. Maybe Disney’s presence will rein Nomura in a bit more.
With so many projects on the horizon, the Kingdom Hearts franchise is finally on consistent footing. Let’s just hope for the fans’ sake that these new additions don’t add cold chills to its already fever-dream-like story. Stick with Nerdbot for updates on the upcoming Kingdom Hearts anime, and as always, drop on by for all your pop culture needs!
Check out the Kingdom Hearts extended trailer below.
