Development of Kingdom Hearts IV is being handled by the same team responsible for the Final Fantasy VII Remake project, namely Creative studio 1, Square Enix’s Naoki Hamaguchi has revealed during an interview with Deadline.
In terms of Square Enix and 2027, our President, Takashi Kiryu, says that next year is the big fight back for us, where everything turns around. And obviously, between Final Fantasy VII Revelation and Kingdom Hearts IV, those are massive titles that are going to push that. And both are being developed in my own studio, Creative Studio 1. So yeah, I’m really pumped up now for that. That’s really all on my watch now, so I’m going to be the guy who’s pushing all that forward.
Elsewhere in the interview, Hamaguchi-san was also asked about the possibility of adapting Final Fantasy VII for a TV series or film, in light of news that Disney Plus is working on an anime based on Kingdom Hearts. In short? He’s ruling nothing out. Of course, FFVII has already seen a full-length CG film, Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, depicting the events that transpire after Cloud and company defeat Sephiroth in the original PS1 RPG.
But in terms of adaptations, even a live-action adaptation or an animated adaptation, we’re always thinking that these properties, things like, again, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy VII … not just Final Fantasy VII, even just Remake. Across all of the Final Fantasy properties and IPs, we’re always looking for the best way to bring them to the audience and for opportunities like this with them. So yeah, it’s definitely a possibility. We want to be very proactive in looking into opportunities like that.
Hamaguchi recently stated that Fortnite was a partial influence on Final Fantasy VII Revelation’s Highwind, specifically where players are able to skydive out of the airship to explore the open world below. Square Enix also confirmed that while FFVII Revelations will ship on a single Blu-ray disc, it will require a data download to play; something which Hamaguchi explained was necessary as not to “compromise” any game quality.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation launches on April 8, 2027 for PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X/S, while Kingdom Hearts IV is pencilled in for a late 2027 release on the same platforms.
[Source – v]