Kingdom Hearts 4 is apparently going to switch over to Unreal Engine 5 for its development, though the initial trailer was rendered in Unreal Engine 4.
This comes from a report from Japanese publication Famitsu, covering the Kingdom Hearts 20th anniversary event. “The full game will be made with Unreal Engine 5, and the quality of lighting and detail will be several levels higher,” according to Famitsu (translations by VGC). Kingdom Hearts 4 is already looking incredibly good, so Unreal Engine 5 is likely to push that to an extreme level.
A number of other tidbits of information also came out from the event. For example, you might notice that the logo for Kingdom Hearts 4 is a touch less extravagant, which is specifically because the series is entering a new storyline, The Lost Master Arc. As well as that, director Tetsuya Nomura wasn’t sure whether he wanted to call the game Verum Rex, something fans that played Kingdom Hearts 3 would understand, or Kingdom Hearts 4. Ultimately, he obviously settled on the latter, due to concerns over Verum Rex not connecting to Sora (thanks, KH13).
Some more details were also provided on the new mobile game, Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link. For one, it will have action elements bringing it closer to the main series of games. Up to six players will be able to play online together too. And interestingly, there will be a Pokémon Go-like mode that will let you improve your keyblade, though there will be ways to do so without needing to walk around in real life.
This of course isn’t the first game to be confirmed for Unreal Engine 5. For one, a new Tomb Raider game is in development from Crystal Dynamics, which will be developed using the new engine. And the next Witcher game is also being developed using Unreal Engine 5, though it would be a bit of a shame if CD Projekt’s inhouse engine REDengine was put to rest.
