Sora is heading to the Land of the Dead. Square Enix has released an extended D23 trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV, revealing that Pixar’s Coco will provide one of the long-awaited sequel’s Disney worlds and confirming a late 2027 release window. The new footage also gives Donald, Goofy and King Mickey much more to do, including sections that put players directly in control of the Disney favourites. Watch the extended trailer above and get all the details below.
The roughly four-minute trailer debuted during the “Deep Dive into Kingdom Hearts” panel at D23 2026, expanding considerably on the shorter footage unveiled during Disney’s main showcase. After Kingdom Hearts IV was first announced back in 2022, the new look finally gives fans a much clearer idea of what Square Enix has been building.
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Series creator Tetsuya Nomura also revealed that the 90-second trailer fans had already seen wasn’t actually the full version. The footage shown during Disney’s main D23 presentation was an edited-down cut of a much longer trailer.
“Today I’d love to be able to show everyone the full version,” Nomura told the crowd. Cue a very happy room.
Coco Joins Kingdom Hearts IV
The biggest reveal is the arrival of the colourful Land of the Dead from Disney and Pixar’s Coco. Sora gets a suitably skeletal makeover as he makes his way through the afterlife-inspired setting, battling Heartless amid the glowing towers, bridges and celebrations familiar from the 2017 film.
And yes, a skeleton swinging a Keyblade around the Land of the Dead looks about as naturally Kingdom Hearts as you’d hope. The footage shows off fast-moving combat as Sora fights through crowds and launches himself around the environment, with Miguel and Héctor also appearing to get involved through Coco-inspired team attacks.
It’s the first Disney or Pixar world to be officially confirmed for Kingdom Hearts IV, and Nomura explained that worlds aren’t simply selected because the team likes a particular movie. Gameplay comes first.
“I typically first prioritize the gameplay experience above all else,” Nomura said, explaining that the team then considers which worlds and characters can make those new gameplay ideas the most enjoyable for players.
There’s also the matter of how a Disney world fits into Sora’s wider journey. Nomura said he considers how well a setting “synergizes with the overall […] main story progression with Sora,” with the themes of the new game ultimately making Coco stand out.
“When it comes to Kingdom Hearts 4, when I thought about a lot of the themes, we felt that Coco would be […] the best world,” he said.
That certainly raises some interesting questions. Kingdom Hearts IV begins the franchise’s new Lost Master Arc with Sora stranded in the afterworld-like Quadratum, so a story centred on family, memory, death and maintaining connections across different worlds feels particularly well suited to where he finds himself.
Sora won’t be exploring the new world alongside his usual companions, at least initially. He remains separated from Donald and Goofy, with his friends searching for a way to bring him back.
Donald, Goofy and Mickey Get Playable Sections
The extended trailer reveals that the search will be more than something happening off-screen. Players will be able to take control of Donald and Goofy during action sequences as the pair continue their hunt for Sora.
King Mickey is also getting his own gameplay, although his sections look considerably different from Sora’s adventures. The D23 panel revealed a storybook-style world built around a paper version of Mickey, with players able to squeeze through cracks, transform into a paper aeroplane and solve environmental puzzles while searching for clues about Sora’s whereabouts.
That variety is very deliberate. Co-director Tai Yasue said the team approaches each Disney world by first asking what kind of experience it can offer players, pointing to the wildly different gameplay provided by Toy Story, Pirates of the Caribbean and Frozen in Kingdom Hearts III.
“I think having differences and having unique gameplay I think that’s really important for us,” Yasue said.
It’s an approach that appears to be continuing here. Mickey’s paper-world adventure is a considerable visual and gameplay shift from Sora’s battles in the Land of the Dead, and another sign that Kingdom Hearts IV isn’t simply giving its hero a fresh collection of Disney worlds to run through.
The footage also brings back Hades from Hercules and offers further glimpses of familiar Kingdom Hearts characters, while the D23 presentation teased a significant role for Sleeping Beauty villain Maleficent.
And Yes, Square Enix Says It’s Really Coming in 2027
Perhaps understandably, some fans saw “late 2027” and immediately started wondering whether that could eventually become 2028. Nomura used his surprise appearance at the D23 panel to address exactly that.
After acknowledging speculation that the release could still move, Nomura said simply that “that is not happening,” reiterating that Kingdom Hearts IV will launch in 2027.
Co-director Yasue was similarly confident, saying development is progressing smoothly and describing the team’s confidence in hitting 2027 as a “100 percent” proposition.
The timing is fitting, too. After what will be more than five years between announcement and release, Kingdom Hearts IV is set to arrive during the franchise’s 25th-anniversary year.
There’s still plenty Square Enix is keeping under wraps, including the other Disney worlds Sora will visit and exactly how all of this connects to the increasingly elaborate Kingdom Hearts mythology. Nomura did, however, say that marketing for the game has only just begun, so after years of relative silence, the road to release finally appears to be properly underway.
Kingdom Hearts IV launches in late 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC, with Steam, Epic Games Store and Xbox on PC among the confirmed storefronts. Notably for Nintendo players, the Switch 2 version is being released natively rather than through the cloud. The game is now available to wishlist, with the Xbox version also supporting Xbox Play Anywhere.
There’s Also a Kingdom Hearts Anime on the Way
And Sora isn’t only making a comeback in gaming. D23 also brought the announcement of an original Kingdom Hearts anime series for Disney+ and Disney Channel, with Nomura and Square Enix’s creative team directly involved.
Rather than simply retelling the games, the currently untitled series will tell a brand-new story within the Kingdom Hearts universe, although Disney has yet to announce a premiere date.
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