Twenty-five years after Tidus first splashed into Spira, Square Enix is marking the milestone the only way a Final Fantasy anniversary can be marked — with an elaborate, character-themed café. Starting September 11, 2026, the Final Fantasy X 25TH ANNIVERSARY CAFE opens its doors across four Japanese cities, running all the way to December 2.
Image courtesy of Square EnixFINAL FANTASY X 25th Anniversary Special Movie — via Square Enix on YouTube
Four Cities, Nearly Three Months of Spira-Themed Dining
The cafe runs at four Square Enix locations simultaneously — the Officially Licensed SQUARE ENIX Cafe & Shop Shinjuku in Tokyo, plus Square Enix Pop Up Cafes in Yokohama, Osaka, and Nagoya (Yokohama is a new addition to the Pop Up Cafe lineup this year). The event is split into two themed periods:
Early Period: September 11 to October 22, 2026
Late Period: October 23 to December 2, 2026
Each period brings different menu items, so the most dedicated fans could justify two visits and a different set of random coaster designs each time.
25th Anniversary Cake (1,870 yen) — mango and pineapple, with blue ocean-tinted jelly and strawberries echoing Spira’s waters
Zanarkand Oyakodon (1,650 yen) — a Tidus-and-Jecht-inspired parent-child rice bowl, topped with a nori stamp of the Zanarkand Abes symbol
Dream Zanarkand Tiramisu — dark chocolate and Lulu-sigil decoration; Early Period only
Tidus Fish Burger (1,210 yen) and Jecht’s Meat Platter (2,530 yen) — Early Period mains
Yuna’s Prayer Anmitsu (1,210 yen) and Wakka’s Salmon Carpaccio (1,320 yen) — Late Period mains
Each city also has a regional exclusive: Yokohama gets a dim sum set, Osaka a blitzball takoyaki, and Nagoya the now-iconic “maybe this is the last time” Ankake Spaghetti (1,870 yen) — a riff on one of FFX’s most-memed localisations.
Image courtesy of Square Enix
Reservations, Cover Charges, and Novelty Merch
Image courtesy of Square Enix
Walk-ins are permitted if tables are free, but advance reservations are strongly recommended — slots are released one month ahead at noon daily via the Square Enix Cafe booking system. Each session is 90 minutes with a 1,200 yen cover charge that includes one complimentary drink and a random coaster. There are 9 coaster designs per period (18 in total), plus character placemats with different designs each phase.
Minimum one food or drink item per person is required beyond the cover. Mobile QR-code ordering is in use at all venues.
For Singapore Fans Planning a Japan Trip
There is no Singapore or SEA location for the anniversary cafe — this one is Japan-only. That said, with Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster now out on Nintendo Switch 2 in Southeast Asia, the 25th anniversary hype is very much alive here. If you’re already planning an autumn Japan trip or heading over for Tokyo Game Show (September 25 to 28), Shinjuku and Yokohama are easy additions to an itinerary. The Nagoya Ankake Spaghetti is arguably the single best reason to make the detour — you’ll know why if you’ve finished the game.
Singapore’s FFXIV players, your 13th anniversary gift from Square Enix is ready to claim. The Rising 2026 — the game’s beloved annual event — went live today, 27 August, and runs through 10 September 2026. Whether you are a fresh Sprout or a veteran of every anniversary, there is a new exclusive minion waiting with your name on it.
Image courtesy of Square Enix
How to Start FFXIV The Rising 2026
The event quest is titled “The Symphony of Life.” To begin, speak to the Wandering Minstrel in Limsa Lominsa Upper Decks at X:11.0, Y:12.8. Any combat job at level 15 or above can participate — making this one of FFXIV’s most accessible seasonal events. You don’t need to have cleared the main scenario or any expansion to take part.
The quest’s story hook: “The wandering minstrel is concerned for a visitor to Vylbrand.” As is tradition with The Rising, Square Enix keeps the narrative details under wraps before launch — every year’s event weaves in a heartfelt message from the development team to the community, and it lands best unspoiled.
FFXIV: Rising 2026 Event Rewards & Date — via Meoni on YouTube (Square Enix announces The Rising via the official Lodestone rather than a dedicated trailer)
Rising 2026 Rewards: Wind-up Wuk Lamat and More
Complete the event quest to earn the Wind-up Wuk Lamat minion — a miniature version of the beloved Dawntrail heroine, available only during the Rising 2026 event window. You will also unlock the “Thankful Thirteen” achievement, marking FFXIV’s 13th anniversary.
A Rising Vendor sets up at Limsa Lominsa Upper Decks (X:11.7, Y:13.6) with purchasable items from this year and previous Rising events:
Tabletop Rising MMXXV Advertisement (furnishing)
The Rising MMXXV Advertisement (wall furnishing)
The Rising MMXXIV Advertisement (wall furnishing)
Matoya’s Cave (Modulation) Orchestrion Roll
Eternal Wind (Modulation) Orchestrion Roll
To Zanarkand (Modulation) Orchestrion Roll
Missed items from previous years’ Rising vendors? They are still available at the same stall — a good window to fill any gaps in your collection.
Image courtesy of Square Enix
Event Dates and Availability for Singapore
The Rising 2026 runs from 27 August (today) through 10 September 2026 at 7:59 a.m. PDT — that is 22:59 SGT on 10 September. The event is global and region-unlocked: players on the Elemental and Materia data centres have identical access to all quests and rewards at the same time as NA and EU. No separate SEA launch or delay applies.
With less than two months to go before launch, Square Enix has pulled back the curtain on some of Final Fantasy Resonance‘s biggest question marks: the two original party members, the crystal nations they come from, and the villainous faction gunning to destroy them all. The new details — confirmed via the official 4Gamer feature (Japanese) and covered by Gematsu — give the clearest look yet at what Final Fantasy Resonance is beyond its all-star guest roster.
Image courtesy of Square Enix
As we covered earlier this month, FF Resonance is the first HD-2D entry in the mainline Final Fantasy series, adapted from the world of Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius and launching on 22 October 2026 (23 October on Steam) for Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE – Announce Trailer — via FINAL FANTASY on YouTube
Meet Jake and Sakura: the two new original characters
Jake (voiced by Jonah Scott in English, Yoshimasa Hosoya in Japanese) leads the rebel army opposing the Zoldaad Empire. He comes across as breezy and easily distracted — until the fighting starts. Jake’s combat style leans into pure luck: Coin Toss and Gamble Shot mean his output varies wildly from turn to turn, which on paper sounds chaotic but looks like it will make him a uniquely fun wildcard in a party of calculated mages and knights.
Sakura (AmaLee in English, Aoi Yuki in Japanese) is the sage of Mysidia. She looks like a child, speaks like someone who has watched civilisations rise and fall, and is reportedly among the most magically powerful characters in the entire game. Her true age and origins remain a mystery — the kind of setup that suggests she is going to be important to the story’s endgame.
Image courtesy of Square Enix
The Zoldaad Empire vs Mysidia — two nations built on crystals
FF Resonance’s world, Lapis, runs on elemental crystals, and two rival powers dominate this latest reveal. The Zoldaad Empire is a militaristic nation built around the Fire Crystal, with rumours swirling that it is planning invasive wars against its neighbours. Opposing it (and home to Sakura) is Mysidia, the Magiapolis — a legendary city of mages centred on the Ice Crystal, so shrouded in legend that many believe it no longer exists.
For veterans of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, both names will feel very familiar: Mysidia has been an iconic FF setting since Final Fantasy IV, and Zoldaad’s militaristic, fire-themed identity maps closely to its FFBE counterpart. The HD-2D reinterpretation looks to keep those essences while giving them a visual overhaul that will land for players who never touched the mobile game.
Image courtesy of Square Enix
The Sworn Six — the main villain faction
The antagonists are the Sworn Six, each representing a crystal element. Two have been confirmed in detail so far. Veritas of the Flame (Paul St. Peter / Kenta Miyake) is a near-invincible warrior who prefers to let his axe do the talking — a single swing can take out most foes. Veritas of the Earth (Kieran Flitton / Yuichi Nakamura) has a contradictory sense of honour that leads him to seek out the strongest opponents, even when his mission demands otherwise. Both feel like classic FF villains with distinct personalities rather than generic “evil” placeholders, which bodes well for the story.
Visions, Espers, and something for the completionists
The Vision system — letting you summon legendary Final Fantasy heroes as combat allies — now has a fuller confirmed roster. Alongside the previously revealed Cloud, Shantotto, and Warrior of Light, Firion (FFII), Onion Knight (FFIII), Vaan (FFXII), Lightning (FFXIII), Noctis (FFXV), and Clive (FFXVI) are all in. The stronger your bond with each Vision, the more abilities unlock — so there is real depth here beyond just flashy cameos.
For players who like to squeeze everything out of a JRPG, FF Resonance also has hidden dungeons and special boss encounters tucked away for the post-game. Square Enix has teased familiar faces among these optional challenges without naming them — which, given the franchise’s history, could mean anything from Gilgamesh to Omega.
Image courtesy of Square Enix
Launch details — all platforms, no exclusivity window
Final Fantasy Resonance launches on 22 October 2026 simultaneously on Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam launches one day later, 23 October). Square Enix has not announced a timed exclusivity deal, so Singapore players on any platform are getting it day one. The official price is US$49.99 — SGD equivalent will vary slightly depending on platform and regional pricing, but it should land below S$70 based on current exchange rates. Pre-order details for local retailers have not been confirmed yet; check the usual major game retail and electronics chains for availability closer to release. Browse more game news here.
Somebody on YouTube has quietly done the thing Square Enix keeps refusing to do. A creator working under the name FusionVerse Production has rebuilt the cutscenes of Final Fantasy VIII as a modern cinematic feature, and the one-hour cut of it is sitting there right now, free, looking better than any of us had a right to expect from a fan project.
It is not a game. We will get to that. But as a look at what a Final Fantasy VIII remake could feel like in 2026, it is the most convincing pitch anyone has made — including Square Enix, who have made none.
FINAL FANTASY VIII Remake – The Movie (1 HOUR) — via FusionVerse Production on YouTube
What FusionVerse Production actually built
The project is an AI-driven cinematic retelling. FusionVerse has been recreating FF8‘s cutscenes shot by shot and rolling them out in parts across 2026 — Squall’s clash with Seifer, the Fire Cavern and Ifrit, the Dollet mission, the ballroom waltz — with new 3D-style character models, reworked audio and re-recorded music. The one-hour movie linked above is the consolidated cut of the story so far.
DSOGaming, which has covered the project twice since February, described the goal as retelling the game’s full story as a feature-length movie while staying faithful to the original adventure. That faithfulness is the whole trick, and it is what separates this from the endless churn of “AI trailer” clickbait.
It started with a concept trailer that made the rounds earlier in the year, and honestly still holds up as the best single minute of the lot.
FINAL FANTASY VIII Remake – Next-Gen Concept Trailer — via FusionVerse Production on YouTubeThe ballroom sequence, rebuilt. Image courtesy of FusionVerse Production.
It looks the way FF8 lives in your memory
Here is the compliment that matters, and it is a genuine one: this looks correct. Squall has the right jaw, the right scar, the right permanent expression of a teenager who would rather be anywhere else. Rinoa reads as Rinoa. The SeeD uniform detailing, the gunblade’s revolver mechanism, the fur collar — all present, all restrained, none of it “reimagined” into something the 1999 art team wouldn’t recognise.
That restraint is rarer than it sounds. Most fan remakes and most AI passes at classic games drift immediately into generic photoreal mush, where every character ends up looking like a stock 3D asset wearing a costume. FusionVerse resisted. The lighting is warm and cinematic without flattening Tetsuya Nomura’s character design, and several shots are framed close enough to the original FMVs that you can hold them side by side and see the intent survive the upgrade.
The 1999 original, as preserved in FINAL FANTASY VIII Remastered. Image courtesy of Square Enix.
Put that 1999 frame next to FusionVerse’s version and the point lands: the fan project isn’t replacing the memory, it’s rendering the memory. Anyone who played FF8 on a PlayStation in a Singapore living room back then knows the difference between those two things immediately. This is the second one, and it’s the far harder one to get right.
The FF7 Remake comparison Square Enix invited
You cannot look at this without thinking about Final Fantasy VII Remake, and that comparison is not the fan project’s fault. Square Enix set the terms themselves.
Seven years and three games of official remake budget. Image courtesy of Square Enix.FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE – Launch Trailer | Switch 2 & Xbox — via FINAL FANTASY on YouTube
Meanwhile Final Fantasy VIII — a game that shipped 9.6 million copies and outsold most of the series — has received exactly one modern release: the 2019 Remastered, which is the PC port with cleaned-up character models and a few toggles. No new engine. No new combat. No trilogy.
To be fair to the official product, FF7 Remake does things the fan movie structurally cannot: a real-time battle system, a rebuilt Midgar you can walk through, a full voice cast, and a narrative that argues with its own source material. FusionVerse’s project is a highlight reel by comparison. But it makes the visual case in an hour, on a hobbyist’s budget, and that is not nothing.
The one thing it’s missing is the entire thing
Watch the full hour and the frustration arrives right on schedule. Every time a scene builds to the moment where you would take control, it cuts. There is no Draw command. No Junction screen. No Triple Triad. No Renzokuken, no trigger tap, no Guardian Force summon grinding through its glorious twenty-second animation while you decide whether you have time to make kopi.
Renzokuken. The bit no cinematic can substitute for. Image courtesy of Square Enix.
That is the gap, and it is an enormous one. FF8‘s identity is not only in its FMVs — it is in a genuinely strange, genuinely divisive set of systems. Drawing magic from enemies instead of buying it. Junctioning spells to stats and then never casting them because casting them makes you weaker. Enemies that level up alongside you, so the player who grinds hardest gets punished. You can render Balamb Garden in 4K and still not have Final Fantasy VIII until someone rebuilds that.
What a funded remake gets to do: rebuild the fight, not just the cutscene. Image courtesy of Square Enix.
Which is exactly why the fan movie is best understood as a pitch deck rather than a product. It proves the look. It cannot prove the game — and no fan team, AI-assisted or not, is going to build 60 hours of JRPG systems in a YouTube upload schedule.
So when does Square Enix actually make this?
The honest answer is that nobody at Square Enix has committed to anything, and the people best placed to do it keep politely declining.
FF8 director Yoshinori Kitase has been asked repeatedly. Back in 2019 he suggested a remake would be a project for the company’s younger staff rather than himself. Speaking to IGN in February 2024, as reported by VGC, he said the Junction system was “a very difficult system for some people to get into,” and that a remake would need the “difficulty and approachability” rebalanced. That is a director who has clearly thought about it. It is not a director who has been given a budget.
And Rebirth and Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi, the most obvious candidate on paper, has effectively ruled himself out. Asked about fan demand for another numbered remake, he said — as relayed by VICE from a Game Informer interview — that such a project “might be in better hands if it went to another creator” at Square Enix, after a decade on the FF7 trilogy.
So: the tech is proven, the demand is visible in the view counts, the director has a design fix in mind, and the studio has spent seven years demonstrating it knows exactly how to do this. The only missing ingredient is a green light. Revelation wraps the FF7 project in Spring 2027, which frees up the most experienced remake team in the industry. Square Enix, the queue starts there.
What you can actually play tonight
Until that happens, the practical move for Singapore players is unromantic but effective. FINAL FANTASY VIII Remastered is S$27 on Steam and also sits on Switch, PS4, Xbox and mobile — it is the 1999 game with sharper character models, plus battle-speed and no-encounter toggles that make the Junction grind far less punishing than it was on a PlayStation memory card. It remains the only official way to actually play this story.
On the other side, FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE runs S$55.40 and REBIRTH S$67.90 on Steam SG, with both now on Switch 2 and Xbox as well — so if you want to see what a fully resourced remake of a PS1 classic looks like end to end, that is the going rate.
Watch the fan movie for the hour of “what if.” Then go play the remaster and imagine the Balamb Garden battle theme kicking in with a real budget behind it. For more on Square Enix’s plans, keep an eye on our game news coverage.
After nearly ten months away, Aidairo’s supernatural school-mystery manga is back. The Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun serialisation resumed today, 18 August, in the Monthly G Fantasy September 2026 issue — ending one of the longest involuntary hiatuses the series has seen since it began in 2014.
Toilet-bound Hanako-kun Season 2 | Official Trailer — via Crunchyroll on YouTube
Aidairo’s Health Hiatus, Explained
The break began in November 2025, when publisher Square Enix announced via the official G Fantasy X account that Aidairo was stepping back from the monthly schedule due to illness requiring medical treatment. No specific condition was disclosed, and the hiatus was described as indefinite at the time. Concern spread quickly across the manga and anime community — partly because Hanako-kun had been running on a tight monthly deadline with no extended breaks for over a decade.
On 17 August, Aidairo posted directly on X to confirm the return, writing: “明日8月18日はGファンタジー9月号の発売日 今月の花子くんは…連載再開 今月からまたよろしくお願いします！” — loosely, “Tomorrow, August 18, is the G Fantasy September issue release day. This month’s Hanako-kun is… resuming serialisation. Thank you again starting this month!” The message struck a tone of quiet relief rather than fanfare, which felt right for a comeback after ten months of recovery.
Image courtesy of Yen Press / Square Enix
Where the Story Left Off
For readers who have been keeping the paperbacks on standby: the series currently has over 10 million copies in circulation worldwide, and Yen Press publishes the English edition — Volume 24 shipped in July 2026. The manga follows Nene Yashiro and the ghost Hanako-kun as they navigate the supernatural rules binding the Seven Mysteries of Kamome Academy, blending folklore, horror, and a lot of emotional gut-punches. The ongoing arc had been building toward some significant revelations before the hiatus interrupted it.
Image courtesy of Aidairo / Square Enix
The anime adaptation — produced by Lerche — ran a well-received second season from January to July 2025, which brought a fresh wave of international fans to the source material. Crunchyroll streams both seasons with subtitles across Southeast Asia, so if you have been watching but have not yet caught up on the manga, now is a good time to close that gap.
What This Means for Singapore Readers
Image courtesy of Lerche / Square Enix
English volumes from Yen Press are available at major bookshops and anime merchandise stores. The manga reads differently to the anime — Aidairo’s panel work is dense with hidden visual clues that reward re-reads — so the return of monthly chapters is good news for fans of both the illustrated source and the screen adaptation.
There is no word yet on when the next anime arc might be adapted, but a healthy and continuing manga is usually the prerequisite. The series is back, and that is enough for today. Catch up on more manga and anime news while you wait for your copy to arrive.
Singapore is getting one of the most coveted gaming concerts of 2026 — and it is the only Asian date on the entire tour. NieR:Orchestra Concert 12026 [YoRHa] arrives at The Star Performing Arts Centre on 28 November 2026, bringing a full orchestra, choir, and newly commissioned story content to NieR fans across the region.
What Is NieR:Orchestra Concert 12026 [YoRHa]?
Produced by AWR Music Productions and Square Enix, the 12026 tour is a brand-new evolution of the acclaimed NieR:Orchestra Concert 12024 [the end of data]. Rather than a straight revival, it introduces an entirely new narrative thread: episodes drawn from the Pearl Harbor Descent Operation, a prequel to NieR:Automata. The story is told through recorded recitations voiced by the original Japanese cast — Yui Ishikawa (2B / No.2), Reina Tanaka (No.4), Mio Hanana (No.21), and Chihira Mochida (No.16) — woven into the live orchestral performance.
Image courtesy of NieR Concerts / AWR Music Productions
What to Expect on the Night
The Singapore performance runs from 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM (two hours fifteen minutes) at The Star Performing Arts Centre, 1 Vista Exchange Green. Leading the show is conductor Eric Roth, with the Resound Collective Orchestra and the ACJC Alumni Choir performing live. Original NieR vocalists Emi Evans and J’Nique Nicole join on stage for iconic tracks spanning the series.
Making the Singapore night especially rare: game director Yoko Taro and composer Keiichi Okabe will be in attendance as special guests — the creative duo who built the entire NieR universe from the ground up.
Image courtesy of NieR Concerts / AWR Music Productions
Official Trailer
NieR: Orchestra Concert — Official Trailer, via IGN on YouTube
Tickets, VIP and How to Book
Tickets are on sale now via SISTIC. The standard VIP Meet & Greet packages are already sold out — they included post-concert access to Yoko Taro, Keiichi Okabe, Eric Roth, Emi Evans, and J’Nique Nicole for photos and autographs. A limited number of VIP tickets may return to sale, so it is worth monitoring the SISTIC listing. General admission seats are still available.
This is the only NieR:Orchestra Concert stop in Asia on the entire 12026 world tour, which runs from August 2026 through March 2027 across North America and Europe before landing in Singapore. If you are a NieR or NieR:Automata fan in the region, this is your one shot. Grab the date — 28 November 2026, The Star Performing Arts Centre — and check out other upcoming gaming and anime events on GameTrader for the full picture.
Square Enix dropped its biggest Kingdom Hearts news in four years at D23 in Anaheim overnight: Kingdom Hearts 4 has a late 2027 release window, its first confirmed Disney world is Pixar’s Coco, and a brand new Kingdom Hearts anime series is heading to Disney+ and Disney Channel. Following this morning’s Kingdom Hearts 25th anniversary deep-dive preview, here is everything revealed at the Disney Entertainment Showcase.
Kingdom Hearts 4 – Official Coco Showcase Trailer | D23 2026 — via IGN on YouTube
Sora Steps Into the Land of the Dead
Image courtesy of Square Enix
The Land of the Dead is Kingdom Hearts 4’s first confirmed Disney world, and in a notable first for the franchise, the trailer establishes that this world follows the plot of the 2017 Pixar film rather than telling a separate side story. Papa Hector opens the sequence by explaining the concept of The Final Death to Miguel: those forgotten by the living eventually fade from existence entirely in the afterlife. Miguel is then shown performing for a crowd as Heartless materialise around him, and Sora arrives to deal with them.
Sora appears dressed in Día de los Muertos face paint and Coco-appropriate clothing, blending naturally into the world’s visual language. The Land of the Dead is rendered in vivid, layered detail — the city’s tiered architecture lit up in gold and violet across the cable car sequences — making it one of the most visually striking worlds the series has ever shown.
The Guitar Keyblade and a Fight Alongside Papa Hector
Image courtesy of Square Enix
Each world in Kingdom Hearts hands Sora a Keyblade that reflects its aesthetic. The Coco world’s version takes the form of a guitar decorated with sugar skull motifs, marigold flowers and warm-toned light — immediately one of the most striking Keyblade designs in the series’ history. The trailer shows Sora fighting alongside Papa Hector, confirming the skeleton musician as a party ally.
The trailer also shows Strelitzia and Sigurd — characters from the mobile game Kingdom Hearts Union χ — appearing in Quadratum alongside Sora. Their presence is a clear signal that the Union χ storyline threads are being woven into the main game, which will matter enormously to fans who stuck with that game through its ending.
Mickey, Donald and Goofy Are Searching — Through Hades
On the other side of the story, King Mickey, Donald Duck and Goofy are shown visiting what appears to be the underworld from Hercules. Dialogue from Hades confirms they have consulted him to track Sora’s location in Quadratum. Donald and Goofy appear as glowing outlines from Sora’s perspective, suggesting the two sides of the story connect across dimensions rather than crossing over directly — a neat way to reintroduce the classic trio without pulling Sora out of Quadratum.
Taken together, the trailer does a great deal in under 90 seconds: new world, Coco-specific Keyblade, returning friends, and enough Union χ fan service to reward players who completed the mobile game’s storyline.
Kingdom Hearts: The Series — On Disney+ Singapore
Image courtesy of Square Enix / Disney
Beyond the game, Disney announced Kingdom Hearts: The Series — an original anime following a new character (not Sora) set within the Kingdom Hearts universe. It will air on Disney Channel and stream on Disney+, meaning Disney+ Singapore subscribers will have access once it launches. No specific date was given, with the announcement card simply reading “Coming Soon.”
Kingdom Hearts 4 is confirmed for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store — all platforms simultaneously, with a “late 2027” window. For Switch 2 owners in Singapore, that simultaneous release is the key detail: there is no longer any ambiguity about a Switch version. As we covered earlier today, the franchise recently crossed the one-billion-dollar revenue milestone, giving Square Enix considerable commercial momentum going into this launch.
No specific date or price has been announced. Follow our Game News section for any further Kingdom Hearts updates from D23 or Gamescom later this month.
Disney has officially confirmed what longtime fans have suspected for years: Kingdom Hearts is a billion-dollar franchise. The announcement landed this week ahead of a dedicated D23 Deep Dive panel streaming tonight — and Singapore fans can catch it live on Sunday morning.
Kingdom Hearts Hits the Billion-Dollar Mark
Image courtesy of Square Enix / Disney
Sean Shoptaw, Executive Vice President of Global Games and Digital Entertainment at Disney, revealed in an official blog post that the company’s games division now spans nine franchises that have each cleared $1 billion in retail revenue. Kingdom Hearts is one of them — sitting in the Disney & Pixar Games label alongside Marvel Strike Force and titles from Lucasfilm Games and 20th Century Games.
Shoptaw noted that “games have become such an important part of the broader Disney landscape” and are increasingly “the first place audiences discover Disney’s characters and worlds.” Disney Games as a whole drove an estimated $3.5 billion in annual consumer spending in recent years, surpassing $4 billion in the most recent fiscal year. It’s a remarkable figure for a series that began as an unlikely crossover between Square Enix’s Final Fantasy DNA and Disney’s beloved animated worlds back in 2002.
Image courtesy of Square Enix / Disney
Watch the D23 Deep Dive Live — Sunday Morning SGT
The timing of the billion-dollar reveal is no accident. Disney is hosting a “Deep Dive Into Kingdom Hearts” panel at its D23 fan event in Anaheim today, August 15, at 4:30 PM PT — that’s 7:30 AM SGT on Sunday, 16 August. The hour-long session will be livestreamed on the official Kingdom Hearts YouTube channel and the Disney YouTube channel, so Singapore fans can set an alarm and tune in from the couch.
DEEP DIVE Into KINGDOM HEARTS | D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event — via KINGDOM HEARTS on YouTube
Note: the panel may not be saved as a VOD after the stream, so watch live if you can. If it is archived, we’ll update this post.
What to Expect From the Panel
Image courtesy of Square Enix / Disney
The panel commemorates the series’ 25th anniversary (the actual milestone falls in 2027) and is confirmed to feature a behind-the-scenes look at how the games come together. Panellists include:
Nana Gadd — Disney & Pixar Games
Tai Yasue — co-director at Square Enix
Haley Joel Osment — voice of Sora (and Vanitas)
David Gallagher — voice of Riku
Renée Johnson — Disney character voices
Disney has not confirmed outright that Kingdom Hearts IV will appear, but with Tai Yasue on stage, the series co-director in tow, and the franchise’s biggest financial milestone as backdrop, anticipation among fans is understandably high. Speculation is running hot on whether a new KH4 trailer — possibly showing English voice acting and the first confirmed Disney worlds — could drop during the stream.
The Switch 2 Collection Is Still on Track for October
Image courtesy of Square Enix / Disney
For Singapore fans who haven’t played the older entries, good news: the Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] — covering HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX, HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind — is still confirmed for Nintendo Switch 2 on 8 October 2026, alongside PS5 and Xbox Series X|S releases. As we covered when the collection was confirmed for Switch 2, the original Switch versions will run via cloud streaming. This is the complete, native way to get the full saga on Nintendo hardware before KH4 arrives.
Set that alarm for Sunday morning. If anything big drops from the D23 stage, we’ll have the breakdown up shortly after. Check in on our game news section for the follow-up.
Square Enix dropped a wave of new Final Fantasy Resonance material overnight: official Vision spotlight trailers for Cloud Strife, Shantotto, and Warrior of Light, alongside a 16-minute extended gameplay showcase published by IGN that gives the clearest look yet at the HD-2D combat system — including a full boss encounter against Shiva and Squall Leonhart deployed as a summoned Vision, as Push Square reports. With 22 October 2026 closing in, this is clearly the start of the game’s pre-launch push.
The Vision System — Classic FF Heroes Alongside a New Cast
If you missed the July Pixel Trailer, the short version: as we covered at the time, Final Fantasy Resonance is built around the Vision system — crystallised essences of legendary FF heroes that party members equip for stat boosts, unique abilities, and high-damage Resonance finisher moves triggered when the gauge fills in combat. The confirmed Vision roster spans most of the series’ history: Cecil Harvey (FFIV), Bartz Klauser (FFV), Squall Leonhart (FFVIII), Zidane Tribal (FFIX), Cloud Strife (FFVII), Terra Branford (FFVI), Tidus (FFX), Y’shtola (FFXIV), and Shantotto (FFXI), among others. Yesterday’s spotlight trailers are the first dedicated showcase videos for three of those confirmed characters.
Image courtesy of Square Enix
Cloud Strife Vision Spotlight
Cloud’s Vision spotlight is the most-anticipated of the three. The official trailer walks through his in-combat abilities and closes with his full Resonance finisher sequence — the high-damage move that triggers when the gauge is full and party positioning allows for a combined attack with the active character. For FFVII fans, the moment that finisher lands in HD-2D pixel style will land hard.
Image courtesy of Square EnixFINAL FANTASY RESONANCE | Vision – Cloud — via FINAL FANTASY on YouTube
Shantotto Vision Spotlight
Shantotto — the black mage from Final Fantasy XI who has appeared in more FF crossovers and guest spots than almost any other character in the series — gets her official Resonance showcase. Her kit in the game is magic-focused, as you would expect, and seeing her HD-2D pixel model cast through her moveset is a particular treat for FFXI veterans. The Vision system’s core pitch — legendary heroes from across the whole series sharing a battle screen — comes through clearly here: Shantotto alongside characters from games made decades before and after FFXI, and it works.
Image courtesy of Square EnixFINAL FANTASY RESONANCE | Vision – Shantotto — via FINAL FANTASY on YouTube
Warrior of Light — The Original Hero Joins the Roster
The third Vision spotlight confirms Warrior of Light — the armoured protagonist of the original 1987 Final Fantasy — as a fully showcased Vision in Resonance. This is the most newsworthy of the three trailers: Cloud and Shantotto have been in the confirmed roster since the game’s initial reveal, but Warrior of Light had not previously been shown in gameplay detail. Seeing the knight who started it all in 1987 fighting alongside characters from games made nearly four decades later is exactly the kind of cross-era moment the Vision system was designed to deliver.
Image courtesy of Square EnixFINAL FANTASY RESONANCE | Vision – Warrior of Light — via FINAL FANTASY on YouTube
Sixteen Minutes of Gameplay: Shiva Boss Battle and Squall Summon
The Vision trailers are a treat, but the more immediately useful content for players trying to gauge how the game actually feels is the IGN-exclusive extended gameplay showcase. The 16-minute video includes a full boss encounter against Shiva — the ice summon rendered in HD-2D with storm-scale visual effects that push the engine noticeably harder than the field combat footage seen so far — and a sequence where Squall Leonhart is deployed as a summoned Vision mid-fight. Squall’s confirmed Vision mechanic rewards consecutive standard attacks before using abilities, and watching that build play out against a boss encounter gives a clearer sense of the damage ceiling than the shorter gameplay clips have.
Image courtesy of Square Enix
Final Fantasy Resonance in Singapore — October 22 on Every Major Platform
Final Fantasy Resonance launches on 22 October 2026 on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam) — every major platform available to Singapore players. Developed by Lancarse and published by Square Enix, this is the first mainline Final Fantasy built from the ground up in HD-2D, the pixel-art style pioneered in Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy. If you have been on the fence since the announcement, the extended gameplay footage now available makes the combat and the art direction easier to judge. SGD pricing for the Singapore PlayStation Store has not been confirmed; check the Singapore PS Store directly once pre-orders open. More game news on GameTrader.
