Disney names Kingdom Hearts among its billion-dollar gaming franchises
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Disney has identified Kingdom Hearts as one of nine gaming franchises worth more than $1 billion, underlining the commercial importance of the Square Enix-developed Disney crossover ahead of Kingdom Hearts IV. The move reflects Disney’s broader strategy of treating games as a core part of its entertainment business and a major way audiences encounter its characters and settings.
Kingdom Hearts began on PlayStation 2 in 2002, with native Switch and Switch 2 releases of several collections and Kingdom Hearts III with Re Mind DLC due in October. Disney said its games have generated about $3.5 billion in annual consumer spending for several years, surpassing $4 billion in its latest financial year, while its Disney and Pixar mobile games have exceeded one billion installs since 2014.
- Disney classifies Kingdom Hearts as a billion-dollar gaming franchise.
- New Switch and Switch 2 releases arrive in October.
- Disney games exceeded $4 billion in annual consumer spending.
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Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games made by Japanese publisher Square Enix in partnership with Disney. It follows Sora, a young hero who travels between worlds inspired by Disney and Pixar films, joined by characters such as Donald Duck and Goofy.
The games combine Disney characters with original storylines and characters created for the series, including allies and rivals connected to the mysterious Heartless creatures. Since its first release in 2002, it has appeared on consoles, handheld devices and mobile phones, building a long-running story across many titles.
Disney owns the characters and worlds used in the crossover, while Square Enix develops and publishes the main games. The series is important to both companies because it links Disney’s film brands with a large global games audience, and a new main instalment, Kingdom Hearts IV, is in development.
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Originally published by Nintendo Life as “Kingdom Hearts Is A “Billion-Dollar” Franchise, According To Disney”.