Shocking Cancellation: Kingdom Hearts Missing Link Scrapped

Kingdom Hearts Missing Link was initially announced in 2022 alongside Kingdom Hearts IV and was meant to roll out for Android and iOS. The story was set to follow a ‘drifter’ moving through the intriguing world of Scala ad Caelum, the level that facilitated the final conflict in Kingdom Hearts III, and the gameplay looked solid and interesting. It was clear by the trailer alone that a lot of love had gone into this project, so the decision to cancel it was clearly a difficult one.

The full announcement, as made on the Kingdom Hearts website, reads as below:

We have made the decision to cancel the development of KINGDOM HEARTS Missing-Link.

We wish to convey our heartfelt apologies to everyone who has been looking forward to the start of service.

Although we worked hard on developing and adjusting the game in the hope that it would be enjoyed by lots of players, we determined that it would be difficult for us to offer a service that players would find satisfactory over a long period of time, leading us to the decision to cancel development.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks to everyone who gave us their support and assistance with the multiple closed beta tests. We are truly sorry to have to make this announcement.

The KINGDOM HEARTS series will continue. We are hard at work on KINGDOM HEARTS IV, and hope you’ll continue to support the series as you keep an eye out for further updates.

The announcement was followed later by the release of new screenshots for Kingdom Hearts IV, which gave a look into some of the gameplay as well as a sneak peek at a playable Mickey and a girl that has a Namine-ish air about her, so it’s not all doom and gloom for Square Enix. Hopefully, the release of these screenshots and a clear turn of focus to Kingdom Hearts IV means that we will see a new trailer drop somewhere in the big gaming events coming up, and perhaps even a release date? Ey Square Enix? Ey?

Recycling Material

Although Kingdom Hearts Missing Link is kaput, it may just be that the story of the inhabitants of Scala ad Caelum can be used elsewhere. Previous browser and mobile games for Kingdom Hearts have been turned into animated shorts and movies, such as with the Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue that included a movie for Kingdom Hearts X. It would be quite hype to see something like that so we can still experience the world of Scala ad Caelum before the release of Kingdom Hearts IV.

Perhaps we will see Square Enix try something like this again in the future, once some of their OG projects have properly wrapped up. If that’s the case, then perhaps they will recycle some of the gameplay elements that were showcased in the Kingdom Hearts Missing Link trailer. The world map seemed to be quite well developed, the combat looked interesting, and clearly honored the stylistic elements of the original Kingdom Hearts games. Perhaps, if we’re really good and wish upon a star, just like Disney always said we could, then Kingdom Hearts Missing Link might even see a revival later down the road.

Every Step Forward

So it doesn’t have to be all bad after all, right? While Kingdom Hearts Missing Link is no longer in our future (for now), it is nice to see that Kingdom Hearts IV is getting some Squeenix love. The post on X that accompanied the release of the new Kingdom Hearts IV screenshots stated: ‘We’re dedicated to making this an experience that lives up to your expectations.’ and if Square is willing to pull out of other projects to make a statement like that real, then you know they’re serious about that.

It really gets the blood pumping over the Kingdom Hearts franchise to imagine what they’re going to do with the new Kingdom Hearts IV. Showing Mickey running around on chandeliers in an ambient library means that although Sora is stuck in the Shibuya of The World Ends With You, the Disney worlds and the original characters aren’t going to be neglected at all. The story might even take the players back to Scala ad Caelum so even if we don’t get to experience that world through our mobile devices, we might still be able to see it come to life.