Kingdom Hearts IV
Illustration: WhyTrend

What happened

At Nintendo Direct 2026. 6. 9 on the evening of June 9, 2026 (JST), Square Enix revealed a new trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV (KH4), the next mainline entry in the Disco-Square Enix x Disney action RPG series.

The big news: the game is confirmed for Nintendo Switch 2, alongside PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam, Epic Games Store and the Microsoft Store on Windows). The footage shows series hero Sora fighting through Quadratum, a contemporary world modeled on modern Tokyo. Locations evoking the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing and rooftop battles against towering enemies stood out, and a mysterious hooded girl in the opening drew immediate attention.

Why it is trending now

The last numbered game, Kingdom Hearts III, launched in 2019, making KH4 the first mainline sequel in seven years. The game was first announced back on April 10, 2022, so fans have been waiting a long time for substantial new footage. Dropping that footage at a globally watched Nintendo Direct — and confirming a brand-new Switch 2 release — set off a wave of excitement. The timing also lands ahead of the franchise's 25th anniversary in 2027.

How fans reacted

Japanese fans flooded X with relief and joy, with one widely shared post essentially saying "thank you for Kingdom Hearts IV." The Shibuya-style setting and the hooded girl drove speculation, while dedicated fans compared this trailer to earlier footage, noting it again looked like real in-engine gameplay. Square Enix also dated a back-catalog bundle, the Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III], for October 8, 2026, with preorders opening the same day.

It packs three titles and supports save-data transfer from the Switch cloud versions.

What to watch next:

No release date for Kingdom Hearts IV itself was given in this showing, so the next thing to watch is whether Square Enix locks in a launch window — plausibly tied to the 2027 25th-anniversary push. Until then, the October 8 collection gives newcomers an on-ramp to catch up on the saga before the next mainline chapter.