Kingdom Hearts IV Reveals Coco World as Late 2027 Release Confirmed at D23
Image by James RichardsonSquare Enix and Disney have finally given Kingdom Hearts IV a release window, confirming that Sora’s next mainline adventure will arrive in late 2027 alongside the reveal of a brand-new world based on Pixar’s Coco.
The announcements were made during D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in Anaheim, where a new Kingdom Hearts IV trailer gave fans their first look at Sora, Donald and Goofy exploring the Land of the Dead from the 2017 Pixar movie.
Kingdom Hearts first launched in 2002 as an unlikely collaboration between Square and Disney, following Keyblade wielder Sora as he travels between different worlds with Donald and Goofy while meeting characters drawn from both companies’ histories.
Kingdom Hearts IV begins the Lost Master Arc following the conclusion of the Dark Seeker Saga, with Sora trapped in Quadratum, a far more realistic-looking world inspired by modern Tokyo that will act as an important setting throughout the new story.
Coco is the first Disney world officially confirmed for Kingdom Hearts IV, taking the trio into the movie’s colorful city of the dead and introducing characters including aspiring musician Miguel to the new adventure.
Pixar’s Coco follows Miguel after his love of music unexpectedly sends him into the Land of the Dead during Día de los Muertos, where his journey through his family’s past eventually reveals the truth surrounding musician Héctor and the Rivera family’s long-standing rejection of music.
The movie’s focus on memories, family and the relationship between the living and the dead also gives its setting plenty of potential within Kingdom Hearts IV, particularly as Sora’s own story begins from a world that has already been closely associated with ideas surrounding life, death and unreality.
The D23 reveal follows the surprise Kingdom Hearts IV trailer shown during Nintendo Direct in June, which returned to the game after several years of limited updates and showed more of Sora’s life in Quadratum alongside new combat footage, Donald, Goofy and Strelitzia.
That presentation also confirmed that Kingdom Hearts IV will launch simultaneously on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, the Epic Games Store and Steam, substantially expanding the number of platforms receiving the new entry at launch compared with Kingdom Hearts III.
Square Enix stopped short of announcing a specific day or month at D23, but the new late 2027 window finally gives fans a clearer idea of when Sora’s story will continue after Kingdom Hearts IV was originally announced during the franchise’s 20th anniversary celebrations in April 2022.
The Coco reveal was not the only major Kingdom Hearts announcement from D23, as Disney also confirmed that an original Kingdom Hearts anime series has officially been greenlit for Disney Channel and Disney+, bringing the franchise into television animation for the first time.
Story details, an animation studio, cast and release window for the new series have yet to be announced, leaving it unclear whether the anime will adapt the games, explore another part of the existing timeline or tell an entirely original story.
This is not Disney’s first attempt at turning Kingdom Hearts into an animated show, as director Seth Kearsley developed an animatic pilot for a potential television series shortly after the first game’s release, with the project eventually being shelved before entering full production.
Kearsley eventually released the long-lost pilot animatic online in 2022, offering fans a rare look at what an early Kingdom Hearts TV adaptation could have been more than two decades before Disney finally gave a new animated project the green light.
More information could still emerge during D23 itself, with the dedicated DEEP DIVE into KINGDOM HEARTS panel taking place on August 15 at 4:30 PM PT and featuring Kingdom Hearts IV co-director Tai Yasue alongside Sora voice actor Haley Joel Osment and Riku voice actor David Gallagher.
The panel is being held as part of the approaching 25th anniversary celebrations and will explore the history of the collaboration between Square Enix, Disney and Pixar, with the presentation also being livestreamed through Disney’s YouTube channel for fans unable to attend D23 in person.
Bandai has already started the anniversary celebrations in Japan with the Ichiban Kuji Kingdom Hearts -25th Anniversary- collection, which launched on August 15 with a Sora statue as its top prize, desktop figures of King Mickey, Donald and Goofy, Keyblade charms and a matching Riku statue as the Last One Prize.
Square Enix is also bringing back its frequently sold-out Dearly Beloved music box, which plays an 18-note mechanical arrangement of Yoko Shimomura’s recurring Kingdom Hearts theme and is scheduled for another Japanese release on December 26, 2026.
Image by Charlotte DavisBefore Kingdom Hearts IV arrives, fans will also be able to revisit much of Sora’s story through Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III], which brings HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX, HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue and Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind together for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on October 8, 2026.
With Coco now confirmed, a late 2027 launch finally in place and an original anime moving forward alongside the franchise’s 25th anniversary celebrations, Kingdom Hearts is heading into 2027 with its biggest collection of new projects in years.
The trailer for Kingdom Hearts 4’s Coco World is now available to view in full on YouTube via Pixar:
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