Kingdom Hearts 4 isn't the Biggest Question Mark for the Series Right Now

Highlights

Kingdom Hearts 4 has players in a realistic world with Donald and Goofy trying to rescue Sora.
Missing Link, a mobile game similar to Pokemon GO, has gone silent, missing its perfect release window.
Development for Missing Link seems uncertain with no updates, causing concerns for fans awaiting its release.

The Kingdom Hearts games have become one of Square Enix’s biggest franchises, as it blends Final Fantasy with the iconic characters of Disney. This action-adventure RPG has been a long-running series, which has left many wondering where Kingdom Hearts 4 is. Since its announcement in 2022, any substantial updates on Kingdom Hearts 4 have yet to see the light of day, but that isn’t the only game in the franchise that has seemingly been left in the dark.

In addition to Kingdom Hearts 4, Kingdom Hearts: Missing Link is nowhere to be seen. Missing Link was announced in honor of the 20th anniversary of the series. Taking inspiration from Pokemon GO, Missing Link is a GPS-based mobile game that has players traveling all around the world. Things were looking promising for Missing Link, but a long run of silence and missing a perfect release window raises some questions about the state of the game’s production.

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Kingdom Hearts: Missing Link May Be Stuck in Development Hell

No New Updates Do Not Bode Well For Missing Link

The last trailer for Missing Link was released around nine months ago, and there has been nothing but silence since then. Despite the silence, Missing Link has hosted Closed Beta tests for lucky players in the past, so there is at least some semblance of a game that has been produced. There have even been Beta participants who have come forward on Reddit, claiming that the game is indeed functional.

However, the biggest issue regarding Missing Link is that the game has missed its perfect release window. Although the most recent trailer for the game states that players don’t have to actually go outside to play, summer seems like the perfect moment to release a GPS-focused RPG title. Pokemon GO first launched in July 2016, which was the best time to introduce the game. Players were easily able to go outside and begin the hunt for Pokemon, and it was a frenzy. However, Missing Link didn’t jump at the chance to launch over the summer, and that spells trouble.

Now that the perfect release window has come and gone, the future of Missing Link remains unknown. Although GPS games aren’t for everyone, Missing Link is an intriguing concept, so it’s a bummer to see the best release time pass with no word on its progress. This is by no means the first mobile Kingdom Hearts game, but the games feel like the perfect franchise to take advantage of the Pokemon GO formula, since adventure is such an essential theme of the series.

Kingdom Hearts: Missing Link’s Future is Uncertain

Unfortunately, as it stands, the possibility of Missing Link releasing any time soon seems like a pipe dream. There are some exciting concepts that many have been looking forward to, like Missing Link’s character creator. Getting the opportunity to create one’s own character in the world of Kingdom Hearts was a fun idea, but it may not happen if the game isn’t able to fight its way out of its development hell. It’s not out of the ordinary for games to be announced and go a long time without updates, but Missing Link seemed like it was on the verge of releasing. The sudden silence is a bad sign, but hopefully it is simply a production hiccup.

Now, Missing Link will have to wait until next year if its developers want to release the game at the perfect time. There are a lot of hopes for Missing Link, but right now, the biggest wish is for its developers to announce why its development has gone silent.