Kingdom Hearts Is Now a $1 Billion Franchise, And I’m Worried About What That Means Disney Will Do Next

Kingdom Hearts was once Disney’s most ambitious crossover, way before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a thing and multiverse stories became a tired trope. The 2002 game introduced the world of SquareSoft (now Square Enix) with several Final Fantasy characters mingling with iconic Disney characters from Aladdin to Sleeping Beauty alongside a cast of original characters designed by Kingdom Hearts co-creator Tetsuya Nomura. However, much like the MCU, Disney has realized the now 25-year-old franchise has become a cash cow for the company. Disney recently announced the franchise has become a $1 billion franchise, just days before previewing new footage for the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 4 and an announcement of an original Disney+ anime series at D23 for its 25th anniversary. Although it may signal an exciting future for fans of the franchise, there’s also a flipside to that coin pertaining to how Disney may mismanage the beloved series now that it’s the new apple of its eye.

In a recent interview, Disney’s director of games, Nana Gadd, said, “Even though Kingdom Hearts has been around for 25 years, there are so many things we want to do. […] The announcement of the animated series is truly just the first step.” Looking back at Disney’s business strategies of late, the company’s decision to oversaturate its television and movie slate with middling live-action remakes of its best animated films, a lack of investment in original IP, and an over-reliance on sequels doesn’t exactly inspire much confidence that Disney will be able to navigate Kingdom Hearts without hitting a few bumps in the road. In the last 25 years, Disney’s new dearly beloved franchise has had little to no visibility at any of its theme parks, little official merchandise, or much expansion outside of the games until now. The newly vested interest in the franchise is, in fact, good news, but the possibility of oversaturation or soulless products is also a factor to consider.

Disney Only Cares About Kingdom Hearts Because Its Worth $1 Billion

Let’s be clear, the only reason Disney, after 25 years, is suddenly interested in Kingdom Hearts, is because the franchise is now worth $1 billion. Disney has had some recent wins thanks to Toy Story 5 and the live-action Lilo & Stitch, the latter of which is one of the few successful live-action adaptations from the company. But it’s also had a lot of abysmal failures from the likes of Tron: Ares, its recent live-action adaptation of Snow White, and the underperformance of The Mandalorian & Grogu, which may have put the nail in the coffin for Star Wars as a sure-fire theatrical franchise. Coupled with Disney’s several layoffs across Pixar, ESPN, and its television department, Disney is in desperate need for hits, and Kingdom Hearts has officially entered that territory. The Disney of late is notorious for its approach to content, which is returning to the well of properties that are profitable and oversaturating the market with it. 

Following the release of Avengers: Endgame, Disney saturated audiences with an abundance of superhero shows on Disney+, which made keeping up with the MCU feel like a chore, to the point that Avengers: Doomsday has become Disney’s Hail Mary in an attempt to reinvigorate audiences. Pixar has become a nostalgia machine, with its original IPs constantly missing the mark, and its abundance of sequels, like Toy Story 5, Inside Out 2, and Incredibles 2, coming out with successful box offices. After the disaster that was the Star Wars sequels, the franchise found success moving to television with The Mandalorian and several other shows. However, its success in television does not translate to theaters, where the franchise used to make most of its profits.

Fans Love What Square Enix Provides, Not Disney

The success of Kingdom Hearts didn’t come overnight; it came from generations of fans connecting with its story, themes, and careful balance between Final Fantasy angst and optimism through iconic figures from Disney canon. For decades, creators Tetsuya Nomura and Shinji Hashimoto have toed the line to create the unique chemistry Kingdom Hearts has between its Final Fantasy and Disney sensibilities.

Although Nomura is directly involved with Kingdom Hearts 4 as well as its upcoming anime series, Disney has already begun to overshadow the franchise’s Final Fantasy ties. Kingdom Hearts 3 infamously showcased a grand departure from its Final Fantasy roots by not including key characters from the franchise like Cloud and Leon (Squall), who have appeared in the games since the original. Based on what’s been shown in Kingdom Hearts 4, it appears fans can expect a lack of Final Fantasy characters appearing here as well. Disney is more entrenched in Kingdom Hearts than ever before now that it’s made an appearance at D23 and has a series slated to debut on Disney+. Once Nomura finally departs from the series or his involvement lessens as the years go by, fans are worried Disney may oversaturate audiences with a bunch of Kingdom Hearts content that lacks its unique vision.

Disney brought its old CEO, Bob Ige,r out of retirement to turn the ship back on course, and his first order was to scale back from the company’s volume of releases to focus more on quality. Hopefully, this course of attack bodes well for Kingdom Hearts. But with new announcements like Frozen 3, Incredibles 3, a live-action Lilo & Stitch 2 (an adaptation of a straight-to-DVD sequel, mind you), a live-action Tangled, and more, it appears Disney is focusing on franchises that still work, until they become franchises that no longer work. Although more Kingdom Hearts content signals greener pastures on the surface, the lack of vision seen in their franchises of late may damage the franchise down the line, especially if Nomura takes a step back and execs are left responsible for re-learning the appeal of Kingdom Hearts in the first place through constant trial and error.