When Kingdom Hearts was made almost two decades ago, it did a fusion that many people felt wouldn’t work. It combined the feel and aesthetic and story of a Final Fantasy title (as they were teaming up with Square Enix), yet also blended in the worlds and characters from various Disney films. And it sold big time. Now, with Kingdom Hearts III coming out in January next year, everyone is hyped to get it, but some have been wondering if the appeal of the franchise can go far outside of video games.
During a Q&A session last week, a fan got to ask one of the dev team a question, and they asked, “With news of Disney’s upcoming expansions (talking about their theme parks, is there a possibility for Kingdom Hearts to be included in some capacity?”
This is a fascinating question, and one that’s very poignant as the upcoming game features Sora using classic Disney theme park rides as weapons in battle. So wouldn’t it be cool if the reverse happened?
The person who answered this question was the producer of the game, Shinji Hashimoto, and he apparently beamed when this question was asked, and then he replied:
“Thank you for your suggestion [on a global scale]. Since 1997, I’ve been overseeing the Kingdom Heartsfranchise. As a Japanese person, it’s been nothing short of a dream to be able to play something developed by a Japanese creator with Disney, especially the same Disney that owns such properties like Frozen and Star Wars. Since Disney has an increasingly high regard for [Kingdom Hearts], I’d like to reach out to them and discuss this further. Sales inside Disneyland will certainly contribute to the growth of the customer base.”
Now, you might think it odd that a video game series like Kingdom Hearts would get such treatment in the real world, but this franchise is one of the most popular things Disney has ever helped create, and it could help spawn more games in the future, and if nothing else…Disney loves making money.
