When you think about the future of the Kingdom Hearts series, your mind almost inevitably turns to Kingdom Hearts 4, but a smaller Kingdom Hearts game, Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link, will be coming out sooner than you think.
Unfortunately, we’re not sure exactly when to expect Kingdom Hearts 4—despite the fact that it was announced two years ago, we haven’t heard a peep about it since. Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link, an upcoming mobile game for both iOS and Android, was announced during the exact same anniversary event as Kingdom Hearts 4, so naturally KH4 stole all the attention and glory. Of course, a mobile game is nowhere near as juicy as a full-fledged console game, but it’s something. But Missing-Link has something pivotal that KH4 doesn’t have: closed beta tests with actual dates.
What is Missing-Link, and when can you play it?
Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link will not follow the story of Sora and his uncles, Donald and Goofy. Instead, it’s kind of like Kingdom Hearts‘ answer to Pokémon Go. You create your own custom Keyblade-wielder, link the game up to your real-world GPS, and walk around, fighting Heartless and collecting Disney characters. One key difference from Pokémon Go, however, is that you can unlink GPS and lazily explore the world to your heart’s content, from the comfort of your couch.
There’s also a new, original story that takes place in both Scala ad Caelum and the Astral Plane, the latter of which is essentially our world. As you might have guessed, the walking takes place on the Astral Plane. How do we know all this? Because there have already been beta tests for the game.
Closed beta tests are currently seem to be all the rage—Hades II just recently set the internet into a tizzy by announcing a surprise test. A beta test is a step ahead of early access, meaning the game is largely finished but is still lacking some features and is even more likely to have bugs. Missing-Link has already had two beta tests in 2023, and a third beta test for will run from May 2 to May 10, 2024.
Information on how to apply for the beta is available on Missing-Link‘s Twitter / X page, but bear in mind that not all applicants will be able to play the game this time around. Even if you don’t get in, the wait may not be too long. The official release for Missing-Link is expected to come sometime before the end of 2024.
(featured image: Square Enix)
