D23’s opening panel offered perhaps our best look at Kingdom Hearts IV yet, revealing a world based on Coco’s Land of the Dead and teasing new story details while confirming a “late 2027” release window. Well, it seems that Square Enix had even more to show us, as Kingdom Hearts’ 25th anniversary panel featured an even longer version with new gameplay reveals, alongside some commentary on the game’s development progress.

The marketing for Kingdom Hearts IV is in full swing following the game’s re-emergence in June 2026’s Nintendo Direct showcase, where it was confirmed for release on Nintendo Switch 2. The game was originally announced in April 2022 with almost complete silence from Square Enix for over four years.

Kingdom Hearts IV Is “100%” Confirmed for Late 2027

Thankfully, during the “Deep Dive into Kingdom Hearts” panel, directors Tetsuya Nomura and Tai Yasue cleared up some speculation regarding the state of the game’s development. Nomura specifically responded to online conjecture that Kingdom Hearts IV’s late 2027 release window is unlikely given the long development of Kingdom Hearts III – “We announced the game is going to be coming in late 2027. I saw online some people were saying the release date might still get pushed back – I want to set the record straight, that is not happening.”

Co-director Tai Yasue also chimed in claiming “I can confidently say and promise that it will launch in 2027. Schedule-wise the development is very smooth. It’s not an 80% thing, 90% thing, – it’s a 100% thing.”

Kingdom Hearts IV Extended Trailer Reveals Playable Disney Characters

With that cleared up, the team also brought a four-minute extended version of the D23 trailer that reveals a key new gameplay detail – Disney characters Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy, will have fully dedicated gameplay sequences, each with their own battle systems and traversal mechanics.

While he has been playable in the series before, Mickey’s gameplay in Kingdom Hearts IV looks to be centered entirely around the character himself. The brief glimpse reveals platforming and puzzles similar to the Epic Mickey games, while Donald and Goofy’s gameplay appears combat focused.

The trailer offers a new look at Quadratum and the Land of the Dead, as well as the characters that Sora will encounter within them such as Kingdom Hearts Union’s Sigurd and Strelitzia. The trailer caps off with our first look at Kingdom Hearts IV’s Riku who, much like Sora, has aged since we last saw him.

It seems that the development team is confident in Kingdom Hearts IV’s “late 2027” release window, indicating that these reveals could be the first of many to come in the next year. With only one of presumably many Disney worlds down, and the game confirmed for a wide multiplatform release, there’ll be plenty of opportunities for Square Enix to drum up hype in the near future.

Kingdom Hearts IV will release for PC, PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S in late 2027.