Tetsuya Nomura has revealed that Kingdom Hearts 4 will finally allow the development team to realise an idea that was originally planned for Kingdom Hearts 3 but could not be implemented at the time.
Speaking during the Kingdom Hearts panel at D23, Nomura discussed the process of creating original worlds and explained that the team had an idea for Kingdom Hearts 3 that they were unable to pursue because of “certain difficulties.”
“For Kingdom Hearts 4, there’s actually an idea that we had since Kingdom Hearts 3 that we weren’t able to realize just because of certain difficulties,” Nomura said. “But we were able to realize that with this installment. And for us, we think it’s a very, very exciting idea and so I do hope people look forward to it.”
Nomura did not reveal what the idea is or confirm whether it will become a specific Kingdom Hearts 4 world. His comments were made while discussing the creative freedom involved in developing original settings for the series.
“Imagining something new based off of solely some a certain type of concept certainly is something that’s very fun and enjoyable,” Nomura explained, adding that original worlds can be less daunting because the team does not have to recreate an existing property exactly.
This freedom also allows the developers to experiment with new gameplay and narrative concepts. Kingdom Hearts 4’s Quadratum is one example, with Yasue previously describing it as an original world inspired by Tokyo. The team photographed the real city to help recreate its buildings, lighting and road layouts while developing traversal mechanics around its much larger scale.
For now, the idea carried over from Kingdom Hearts 3 remains a mystery. Nomura also confirmed that marketing for Kingdom Hearts 4 has only recently begun, meaning more details could be revealed ahead of the game’s planned late 2027 release.
