Kingdom Hearts Series Gets Native Switch 2 Release on October 8
The shift from cloud-only streaming to native ports addresses a long-standing criticism of the Switch releases and sets up the platform for the series' future entry.
Reporting from 3 sources: 4Gamer.net, GAME Watch (Impress), ASCII.jp.
Square Enix announced during the June 9 Nintendo Direct that the Kingdom Hearts series will receive native Nintendo Switch 2 ports, releasing on October 8. The lineup includes KINGDOM HEARTS -HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX-, KINGDOM HEARTS HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and KINGDOM HEARTS III + Re Mind, as well as a collection bundling all three titles, KINGDOM HEARTS Collection [I~III]. The first title will also be available on the original Switch. Concurrent with the announcement, Square Enix discontinued sales of the cloud versions of these games on Switch as of June 9. Owners of the cloud versions can transfer their save data to the new native ports and purchase the corresponding downloadable versions at a discounted price. The cloud versions will remain playable until June 9, 2027, after which the service ends. The announcement also confirmed that the upcoming KINGDOM HEARTS IV will launch on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store.
The native Switch 2 ports mark a departure from the cloud-streaming approach Square Enix used for the Kingdom Hearts series on the original Switch, which launched in February 2022. The cloud versions required a constant internet connection and were criticized for latency and performance issues. Now, the three core collections will run directly on Switch 2 hardware. The KINGDOM HEARTS Collection [I~III] bundles all three titles into a single package, though the physical version of the collection is not eligible for the discount offered to cloud version owners. Discounts apply only to digital downloads corresponding to the cloud titles a user owns. Owners of KINGDOM HEARTS INTEGRUM MASTERPIECE for Cloud, which compiled the series, are eligible for discounts on all four downloadable titles. The cloud versions' service termination date of June 9, 2027 gives existing purchasers roughly one year to transition. The multiplatform confirmation for KINGDOM HEARTS IV, including Switch 2, signals continued support for the platform beyond the back-catalog ports.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 3 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- 4Gamer.net 「キングダム ハーツ」シリーズNintendo Switch Cloud Versionが販売終了
- GAME Watch (Impress) Switch向けの「キングダム ハーツ」シリーズクラウドバージョンが販売終了。Switch2版の発売に向けて
- ASCII.jp クラウド版「キングダム ハーツ」サービス終了 Switch 2版が10月8日に発売へ