Hamaguchi: KH4 and FFVII Revelation anchor 2027

Kingdom Hearts IV now has a named lead for its 2027 push. In a Deadline interview published September 10, Naoki Hamaguchi, who leads Square Enix's Creative Studio 1 and directed Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, said both Kingdom Hearts IV and Final Fantasy VII Revelation are developed in his studio, Creative Studio 1, and that both are now on his watch to push forward. Both are slated for 2027, and Hamaguchi framed the pair as the core of president Takashi Kiryu's declared "big fight back" year for the company.

In terms of Square Enix and 2027, our President, Takashi Kiryu, says that next year is the big fight back for us, where everything turns around. And obviously, between Final Fantasy VII Revelation and Kingdom Hearts IV, those are massive titles that are going to push that. And both are being developed in my own studio, Creative Studio 1. So yeah, I'm really pumped up now for that. That's really all on my watch now, so I'm going to be the guy who's pushing all that forward.

Naoki Hamaguchi - Deadline, Sep 10, 2026

The personnel is the news here. Kingdom Hearts IV has long been reported as the work of the Osaka team behind Kingdom Hearts III, and Hamaguchi's account is consistent with that: the Osaka team sits inside Creative Studio 1, which he says develops both Kingdom Hearts IV and Final Fantasy VII Revelation. His "all on my watch" line puts one named lead across both of Square Enix's biggest 2027 releases.

Asked in the same interview about screen adaptations, Hamaguchi said the company is always looking for the best way to bring its properties to the audience, pointing to the Kingdom Hearts anime announced at D23 for Disney Channel and Disney+ as the precedent. That reads as context for the existing announcement, not a new one, so expect nothing further on that front here. The next dated Kingdom Hearts appearance remains the Tokyo Game Show lineup from September 17 to 21, where KH4 is listed as present but not playable.