Update: 04-07-2025 00:49PM GMT - It has been clarified by IGN that Yôko Shimomura’s quote was misunderstood and that she’s actually working on music for several different games at the moment, rather than several songs just for Kingdom Hearts 4. Original story follows.
FamedKingdom Heartscomposer Yôko Shimomura revealed that she is “knee-deep” in work right now, composing the fourth game’s soundtrack.
While she didn’t go into any detail about the hotly-anticipated sequel, she toldIGNthat she’s writing “a number of songs at the moment”.
Shimomura also composed the music for Live A Live, Parasite Eve, and Xenoblade Chronicles.
Shimomura has worked across over 70 video games in 36 years, and for her “work creating music for iconic games” like Kingdom Hearts, Super Mario RPG,Street Fighter, andFinal Fantasy, she was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s GDC. “I’m in shock, truly,” she told IGN. “It still feels like some sort of mistake or misunderstanding to me. But I am happy knowing that others see validation in my work.”
Kingdom Hearts 4 was announced two years agoduring the series' 20th anniversary event with a trailer showing Sora in the Quadratum City, missing his iconic Mickey Mouse shoes.
It was later revealed thatthe story focuses on the disappearance of Sora, meaning that some fan-favourite side characters might not make an appearance. There’s no release date yet and it’s unclear how far along the game is, butGoofy actor Bill Farmer didn’t find out about Kingdom Hearts 4 until we did, so it was likely very early along in development two years ago.
While it’s been five years since the last mainline Kingdom Hearts game, there’sa mobile spin-off called Missing Linklaunching this Spring. It takes place before the main games, set against the backdrop of Scala ad Caelum, a bustling city that sits atop the ruins of Daybreak Town. Since it’s a prequel, it focuses on a new set of characters, but this is still Kingdom Hearts, so it’s chock full of Disney icons.
We didn’t hear anything about Kingdom Hearts 4 last year, but there was a false alarm duringFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth’slaunch. The official KH Twitter account posted a picture of Sora standing on the streets of Quadratum, looking at a bunch of adverts featuring Sephiroth.But this shot was taken inside of Kingdom Hearts 3, not 4. Fans are itching for news, but if the game was only in early development two years ago, it’s likely still a ways away before launch.
Regardless, after 22 years, Yôko Shimomura is still composing for the series, so while the aesthetic might look a bit different from what we’re used to, there’ll be a familiar score carrying us through each world.
Kingdom Hearts 4
Kingdom Hearts 4 continues the long-running series of Disney crossover RPGs from Square Enix. Sora finds himself trapped in the Shibuya-like city of Quadratum, while Donald and Goofy attempt to rescue him.
