Kingdom Hearts 4 could be Tetsuya Nomura's last game

After decades of iconic games and beloved characters, Tetsuya Nomura is thinking about retiring from the games industry.

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There are few people more instrumental in gaming than Square Enix's Tetsuya Nomura. Throughout his current 33-year run in the games industry, Nomura has done it all: director, producer, designer, artist, storywriter, etc. His artwork has been responsible for shaping some of the most well-known and recognizable video game characters of all time, and he helped mold the visuals in best-selling franchises from Final Fantasy to Kingdom Hearts.

Now after all this time, Nomura has recently expressed that he could retire soon. After all, he is 53 years old, and the typical age of retirement in Japan is 60.

In a recent interview with Japanese publication YoungJump, Nomura commented on his retirement, saying that Kingdom Hearts 4 could be his last game--and that KH4 is meant to wrap up the franchise's storyline.

YoungJump: My last question is, Mr. Nomura, do you foresee the end of the Kingdom Hearts series?

Nomura: Speaking of things without dreams, I only have a few years left until I retire, so it's like I have to decide whether to retire first or finish the series first (laughs). However, I'm making Kingdom Hearts IV now with the intention of it being a story that will be completed.

As for a release date, Square Enix has yet to make any announcements. The company is facing a bit of hardship as of late as two of its most recent releases, Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, were not enough to offset operating income losses for the FY23 period.

There are reports that KH4 is due out sometime in 2026, but nothing has been confirmed just yet.