Square Enix
Kingdom Hearts 4 director reveals he’s already thinking of an end to the franchise as retirement approaches
As Kingdom Hearts fans wait for more news on the fourth mainline game, set to start an entire new story arc, the franchise’s director is already hinting at his retirement.
Tetsuya Nomura, head of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, is still 54 years old. In other words, under normal circumstances, you would have more than a decade left until retirement. However, the development of these video games takes years and years, something that the fourth main installment is not trying to change. The title was announced in 2022 and since then they have barely shared any news about its development. The Japanese creative has now reflected on his possible retirement and has hinted that he does not have many years left. In addition, he has pointed out that he is thinking about the end of the saga.
Nomura made the statements in an interview with Japanese magazine YoungJump (via VGC), in which he said the following: “I only have a few years left until I retire, I have to decide whether to retire first or finish the series first.” According to his words, he is developing Kingdom Hearts 4 “with the intention of it being a story that I will complete.” In any case, it seems that these thoughts contradict the information shared by Square Enix, which said that this chapter would mark the beginning of “a new story arc”, called ‘The Lost Master Arc.’
Fantasy according to Tetsuya Nomura
About the new world of Quadratum, Nomura has explained that he likes worlds that differ slightly from reality as opposed to ones that look too fake. “If the world is too fantasy I can’t get into it. I like the scenarios that are based on Shibuya, but not the real Shibuya. Instead of a complete fantasy, I think unreality within reality fits the fantasy perspective.”
In addition to Kingdom Hearts 4, Tetusya Nomura is the creative director of the entire Final Fantasy VII Remake project. The creator directed the first installment and supervised all the creative aspects of the second installment, something he will also do with the closing of the trilogy, which still has no official title.
Follow MeriStation USA on X (formerly known as Twitter). Your video game and entertainment website for all the news, updates, and breaking news from the world of video games, movies, series, manga, and anime. Previews, reviews, interviews, trailers, gameplay, podcasts and more. Follow us now!