After years of waiting, Kingdom Hearts IV is finally beginning to reveal the shape of Sora’s next adventure.
Disney & Pixar Games and Square Enix unveiled a brand-new trailer during D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, delivering one of the biggest updates yet on the long-awaited fourth mainline entry in the beloved action RPG franchise.
And the headline reveal is a major one.
Coco is officially coming to Kingdom Hearts.
The trailer transports Sora into the brilliantly colourful Land of the Dead from Disney and Pixar’s 2017 animated film, where he encounters Miguel and Héctor as part of his new journey.
It is the first Disney world officially confirmed for Kingdom Hearts IV and immediately demonstrates the visual leap the series is making.
The towering bridges, glowing buildings and endless layers of the Land of the Dead create an extraordinary playground for Sora, combining Coco’s instantly recognisable visual identity with the fast-moving combat and exploration that have defined Kingdom Hearts for more than two decades.
Sora even receives a new look inspired by the world around him, complete with skeletal face paint and a Keyblade transformation designed around Coco’s musical and Día de los Muertos imagery.
The new footage also shows considerably more of Kingdom Hearts IV’s combat.
Sora moves rapidly between enemies, combines magic with physical attacks and uses the Keyblade in increasingly elaborate ways as battles flow through large environments.
Square Enix says the new battle system will allow players to combine attacks and magic while building combos through an entirely new gameplay feature.
Different Keyblades will once again change how Sora fights, allowing players to switch between distinctive attacks and strategies depending on the situation.
But Coco represents only one part of the much larger mystery surrounding Kingdom Hearts IV.
The game begins after the events of Kingdom Hearts III, with Sora awakening in Quadratum — a vast modern metropolis that appears far more realistic than most worlds previously visited in the franchise.
Sora is searching for a way back to his own world while attempting to understand exactly where Quadratum fits within the increasingly complicated Kingdom Hearts universe.
Meanwhile, Donald Duck and Goofy have begun their own search.
Believing that they may find information capable of leading them back to Sora, the pair head towards the Underworld.
That immediately creates another intriguing Disney connection, with Hades once again becoming part of the continuing Kingdom Hearts story.
The D23 presentation also offered glimpses of Mickey, Donald and Goofy alongside additional combat footage, reinforcing that the familiar Disney characters remain central even as the franchise moves into a very different era.
Kingdom Hearts IV was originally announced in 2022 as the beginning of what Square Enix calls the “Lost Master Arc.”
Since then, information has arrived slowly, making every new appearance of the game particularly significant.
That changed dramatically in 2026.
A new look at the game appeared during the June Nintendo Direct, confirming Nintendo Switch 2 support and offering more footage of Sora fighting inside Quadratum.
Now D23 has delivered the biggest update yet.
For the first time, players know approximately when the journey will begin.
Kingdom Hearts IV is scheduled to launch in late 2027.
The game will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC through Steam, the Epic Games Store and the Xbox PC ecosystem.
The timing also gives the release particular significance.
Kingdom Hearts celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2027, making the arrival of the next major game part of a much wider celebration of a franchise that has now sold more than 39 million units worldwide.
Disney also used D23 to announce another major expansion of the universe.
A new original Kingdom Hearts anime series is being developed for Disney Channel and Disney+, with franchise creator Tetsuya Nomura and the Square Enix creative team involved.
Unlike a straightforward adaptation of the games, the series will tell a new story designed to expand the Kingdom Hearts universe.
But for longtime players, Kingdom Hearts IV remains the main event.
Sora’s disappearance at the end of Kingdom Hearts III left Donald, Goofy, Riku and his other friends searching for a way to bring him home.
Quadratum introduced an unfamiliar reality.
Now Coco provides the first indication of the Disney worlds waiting beyond it.
And it is difficult to imagine a more natural fit.
Kingdom Hearts has always revolved around hearts, memories, friendship and the connections that survive even when people are separated.
Coco built an entire story around many of those same ideas.
The Land of the Dead therefore feels like more than a visually spectacular location for another adventure.
In a story about Sora attempting to return from a reality where he has effectively disappeared from his own world, a place built around memory and the connection between the living and the dead could carry considerably greater significance.
Exactly how Miguel, Héctor and the world of Coco connect to Sora’s larger journey remains a mystery.
Kingdom Hearts rarely gives away those answers easily.
But after years of uncertainty surrounding the next chapter, D23 has finally provided something fans have been waiting for.
A Disney world.
New gameplay.
A release window.
And Sora moving one step closer to his next adventure.
Kingdom Hearts IV launches in late 2027.
Watch the D23 2026 Showcase Trailer below.
