Naoki Hamaguchi says Creative Studio 1 is developing Kingdom Hearts 4 alongside Final Fantasy 7 Revelation. Here is what that confirms, what it does not, and what fans should expect next.
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Hamaguchi’s comments finally place Kingdom Hearts 4 inside Square Enix’s current structure
Naoki Hamaguchi, director of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, has said that Kingdom Hearts 4 is being developed at his Square Enix studio, Creative Studio 1, alongside the final entry in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy. Speaking to Deadline, as quoted by GamingBolt, Insider Gaming, DualShockers, and Game Rant, Hamaguchi described both Final Fantasy 7 Revelation and Kingdom Hearts 4 as major 2027 titles for Square Enix and said that “both are being developed in my own studio, Creative Studio 1.” He added that the projects are “all on my watch” and that he will be “pushing all that forward.”
That is the concrete development here. After years of limited public information around Kingdom Hearts 4 development, Square Enix’s internal home for the game has now been identified through Hamaguchi’s own interview comments. Game Rant notes that Square Enix itself was already understood to be the developer and publisher of Kingdom Hearts 4, while Tetsuya Nomura and Tai Yasue remained publicly attached as director and co-director. What had remained unclear, especially after Square Enix moved away from its older business-unit structure during a company-wide reorganization that began in 2024, was which internal studio was handling the project.
The tension is that “Creative Studio 1 is developing Kingdom Hearts 4” sounds, at first glance, like a sweeping leadership change. The sourced quotes do not support that conclusion. Hamaguchi has confirmed studio-level responsibility and his own supervisory involvement, but none of the provided reports says he has replaced Nomura or Yasue. Game Rant explicitly cautions that his remarks do not indicate a change to that public leadership structure.
This is meaningful because Kingdom Hearts 4 has had a visibility problem
Kingdom Hearts 4 is not a mystery project anymore, but it has often felt like one from the outside. Game Rant describes the sequel as long-awaited and says Creative Studio 1 had been a leading candidate among fans before Hamaguchi’s confirmation, with its involvement inferred rather than stated outright. The same report says the game returned with new gameplay footage in June 2026, yet the internal development arrangement still had not been explicitly clarified at that point.
For a series as complicated as Kingdom Hearts, a studio confirmation is not a small administrative detail. Kingdom Hearts games live or die on the coordination between real-time action, party behavior, Disney and Square Enix scenario demands, world-specific systems, progression pacing, and a mythology that asks players to track character identities across many releases. Knowing that the project sits within Creative Studio 1 gives fans a clearer picture of the production environment around the sequel, even if Square Enix has not opened the design document or shown the full world list.
It also helps explain why Hamaguchi’s involvement is being read as encouraging by some fans. Game Rant reported that a September 11 r/KingdomHearts discussion about the developer confirmation drew hundreds of upvotes and optimistic comments within hours. That is a narrow community signal, not proof of universal fan sentiment, but it shows the kind of confidence Creative Studio 1 carries after its work on the Final Fantasy 7 Remake project.
What Creative Studio 1 brings, and where expectations should stay grounded
The natural comparison is the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy. DualShockers argues that the Remake series has been careful about linking party bonds to both cutscenes and gameplay, and that observation is relevant to Kingdom Hearts 4 because both franchises depend on fast combat, changing allies, and story relationships that need to feel active rather than decorative. From a systems perspective, that is where Creative Studio 1’s recent experience appears most applicable: action-RPG combat that still supports party identity, cinematic storytelling that does not fully abandon player control, and large-scale progression arcs across a premium RPG campaign.
But fans should be careful not to convert studio overlap into feature promises. The sources do not say Kingdom Hearts 4 will adopt Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s ATB hybrid structure, party-switching model, weapon upgrade format, quest density, or materia-like build logic. Hamaguchi’s quote confirms development responsibility and a push toward 2027, not a combat blueprint.
The more reasonable expectation is production confidence rather than mechanical inheritance. Creative Studio 1 is already handling a major action-RPG conclusion in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, which GamingBolt reports is confirmed for April 8. Kingdom Hearts 4 sharing that studio means Square Enix is concentrating two of its biggest upcoming RPGs in the same internal group. That can be reassuring because it places Kingdom Hearts 4 near a team with recent large-scale RPG experience. It also raises workload questions, since the same studio is responsible for two major releases Square Enix is positioning as part of an important 2027 slate.
The 2027 window is real, but the release order still matters
GamingBolt reports that Kingdom Hearts 4 currently has a 2027 launch window, while Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is confirmed for April 8. The same report says both titles are planned for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. Insider Gaming likewise says Kingdom Hearts 4 is scheduled for 2027 and identifies Final Fantasy 7 Revelation as the end of the trilogy.
That gives players a useful outline, but not a complete calendar. Kingdom Hearts 4 does not have a specific release date in the provided source material. There is also no sourced information here about editions, price, pre-orders, PC requirements, Switch 2 performance targets, upgrade paths, or whether all platforms will launch on the same day. Until Square Enix publishes those details through an official listing, showcase, press release, or store page, they remain unannounced.
The April 8 date for Final Fantasy 7 Revelation may shape how fans read the Kingdom Hearts 4 window. If Revelation is Square Enix’s early-year tentpole and Kingdom Hearts 4 is also part of the company’s 2027 “big fight back,” as Hamaguchi attributed to Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu in the Deadline interview, Square Enix has an incentive to space communication carefully. That does not prove a release month for Kingdom Hearts 4. It does suggest the next major Kingdom Hearts 4 beat will need to do more than remind players the game exists. It will likely have to clarify the campaign’s shape, platform plan, and combat identity.
Hamaguchi support does not erase Nomura and Yasue’s roles
The most important expectation-setting point is leadership. Game Rant states that Tetsuya Nomura and Tai Yasue were still prominently involved when Square Enix shared new Kingdom Hearts 4 details ahead of D23 2026, and that Hamaguchi’s latest remarks do not indicate their roles have changed. That matters because Kingdom Hearts is unusually authorial for a blockbuster RPG series. Nomura’s scenario direction, character framing, and long-tail lore decisions are central to how fans understand each numbered entry.
Hamaguchi’s position appears different based on the sourced material. He is the head of Creative Studio 1 and says both Kingdom Hearts 4 and Final Fantasy 7 Revelation are being developed within that studio and are on his watch. That points to production oversight and studio-level responsibility rather than a public creative handoff.
For players, the practical reading is this: expect Kingdom Hearts 4 to remain a Kingdom Hearts game under its established public creative leadership, while benefiting from a studio structure that includes Hamaguchi’s management and the institutional experience of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake team. That is a healthier interpretation than assuming the game has been “taken over,” even though DualShockers used that framing in its headline. The quote itself supports involvement and responsibility, not replacement.
The Disney+ adaptation talk is adjacent, but it shows Square Enix’s broader plan
Hamaguchi’s Deadline interview also touched on adaptations. GamingBolt and Insider Gaming report that he was asked whether the Kingdom Hearts animated series for Disney+ could lead Square Enix to pursue more screen projects, including Final Fantasy 7. Hamaguchi said Square Enix is continually looking at opportunities to bring properties such as Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy to wider audiences through formats including live-action or animation.
That does not directly change Kingdom Hearts 4 development. It does, however, frame why Square Enix is treating 2027 as a large brand moment rather than a single-game year. The company has Kingdom Hearts 4, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, and adaptation ambitions circulating in the same conversation. When a publisher talks this way, the game release is also a franchise relaunch point: new players arrive through trailers, platform expansion, streaming announcements, and social chatter, while longtime fans look for continuity and payoff.
For Kingdom Hearts specifically, that puts pressure on accessibility. The series’ lore is dense, and a fourth numbered entry arriving on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2, according to GamingBolt’s platform reporting, will reach players with very different levels of series history. The provided sources do not say how Kingdom Hearts 4 will onboard newcomers or handle recap material. That remains one of the most important unanswered design questions.
What fans should realistically watch for next
The next meaningful Kingdom Hearts 4 update should be judged by what it confirms, not by how loudly it reassures. Hamaguchi’s Creative Studio 1 comments answer the internal-studio question and strengthen the sense that Square Enix is lining up the sequel as part of a major 2027 push. They do not answer the release date, world roster, combat systems, edition structure, performance targets, or how much of the game has changed since earlier footage.
Players interested in buying on day one should wait for platform-specific details. The current sourced platform list includes PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2 via GamingBolt, but there are no provided specifications for resolution, frame rate, handheld performance, PC features, or storage requirements. RPG fans who care about build depth, party AI, and progression should also wait for a dedicated gameplay breakdown rather than assuming Final Fantasy 7 Remake systems will carry over.
For now, the best-supported conclusion is measured optimism. Kingdom Hearts 4 development has clearer ownership inside Square Enix, Naoki Hamaguchi is directly involved at the studio level, and the game is still being discussed as a 2027 release. The unanswered questions are the ones that will decide how it plays, not whether Creative Studio 1 is attached.