One of the main selling points of the Kingdom Hearts games was the weird mashup of Disney and Final Fantasy characters. Kingdom Hearts director Tetsuya Nomura recently sat down with Game Informer to discuss Kingdom Hearts 4 and addressed several questions, including concerns about Final Fantasy characters.

When asked about the relative lack of Final Fantasy characters in recent Kingdom Hearts entires, Nomura had this to say:

I understand there weren't that many Final Fantasy characters in Kingdom Hearts III. One thing I want to clear up is that a lot of fans are saying that Kingdom Hearts is this collaboration between Disney characters and Final Fantasy characters. But I really feel like that's not the basic concept of Kingdom Hearts; that's not exactly what Kingdom Hearts is.

When we released the first title, we had only a few original Kingdom Hearts characters. When they were interacting with really well-known, beloved Disney characters, I felt nobody really knew these new characters, so it was harder for them to stand their ground just yet. And so, we had a lot of Final Fantasy characters involved to lend a hand for everyone to get to know these [original Kingdom Hearts] characters better.

Now, there are so many original characters from Kingdom Hearts that are so well-loved, and people want to see more of those characters. With Kingdom Hearts III, since we did have so many original Kingdom Hearts characters, it was hard to find room for including more Final Fantasy characters. We're trying to find a good balance for that. I know that some fans were concerned about that and weren't too happy and wanted to see more Final Fantasy characters. That's something we definitely are thinking about. But just with the sheer number of original characters that we have now, it's hard to say what the exact balance is going to be and how it will play out in Kingdom Hearts IV. We can't really give you a firm reply on this just yet.

This answer seems to imply that he'd rather flesh out the original Kingdom Hearts characters than add more Final Fantasy characters. This answer may disappoint fans who were looking forward to seeing more Final Fantasy as there are a plethora of characters to choose from.

Looking through the various Kingdom Hearts games, there have been many characters from more popular Final Fantasy games such as Final Fantasy VII and X, but none from any recent Final Fantasy games. Protagonists such as Vann from Final Fantasy XII, Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII, or even Noctis and crew from Final Fantasy XV are nowhere to be seen in a Kingdom Hearts game.

It could be that Nomura wants the game to live off the strength of its original characters rather than ride on the popularity of Disney and Final Fantasy characters. That said, one could argue that Disney and Final Fantasy are what make Kingdom Hearts, well, Kingdom Hearts.

Kingdom Hearts 4 is the latest in the series with its debut trailer showing off a more realistic Sora in the world of Quadratum. Nomura talks more about Kingdom Hearts including the uncertainty of getting Sora into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

David Matthews is a freelance writer specializing in consumer tech and gaming. He also strongly believes that sugar does not go in grits. Follow him on Twitter @packetstealer

One of the main selling points of the Kingdom Hearts games was the weird mashup of Disney and Final Fantasy characters. Kingdom Hearts director Tetsuya Nomura recently sat down with Game Informer to discuss Kingdom Hearts 4 and addressed several questions, including concerns about Final Fantasy characters.

When asked about the relative lack of Final Fantasy characters in recent Kingdom Hearts entires, Nomura had this to say:

I understand there weren't that many Final Fantasy characters in Kingdom Hearts III. One thing I want to clear up is that a lot of fans are saying that Kingdom Hearts is this collaboration between Disney characters and Final Fantasy characters. But I really feel like that's not the basic concept of Kingdom Hearts; that's not exactly what Kingdom Hearts is.

When we released the first title, we had only a few original Kingdom Hearts characters. When they were interacting with really well-known, beloved Disney characters, I felt nobody really knew these new characters, so it was harder for them to stand their ground just yet. And so, we had a lot of Final Fantasy characters involved to lend a hand for everyone to get to know these [original Kingdom Hearts] characters better.

Now, there are so many original characters from Kingdom Hearts that are so well-loved, and people want to see more of those characters. With Kingdom Hearts III, since we did have so many original Kingdom Hearts characters, it was hard to find room for including more Final Fantasy characters. We're trying to find a good balance for that. I know that some fans were concerned about that and weren't too happy and wanted to see more Final Fantasy characters. That's something we definitely are thinking about. But just with the sheer number of original characters that we have now, it's hard to say what the exact balance is going to be and how it will play out in Kingdom Hearts IV. We can't really give you a firm reply on this just yet.

This answer seems to imply that he'd rather flesh out the original Kingdom Hearts characters than add more Final Fantasy characters. This answer may disappoint fans who were looking forward to seeing more Final Fantasy as there are a plethora of characters to choose from.

Looking through the various Kingdom Hearts games, there have been many characters from more popular Final Fantasy games such as Final Fantasy VII and X, but none from any recent Final Fantasy games. Protagonists such as Vann from Final Fantasy XII, Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII, or even Noctis and crew from Final Fantasy XV are nowhere to be seen in a Kingdom Hearts game.

It could be that Nomura wants the game to live off the strength of its original characters rather than ride on the popularity of Disney and Final Fantasy characters. That said, one could argue that Disney and Final Fantasy are what make Kingdom Hearts, well, Kingdom Hearts.

Kingdom Hearts 4 is the latest in the series with its debut trailer showing off a more realistic Sora in the world of Quadratum. Nomura talks more about Kingdom Hearts including the uncertainty of getting Sora into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

David Matthews is a freelance writer specializing in consumer tech and gaming. He also strongly believes that sugar does not go in grits. Follow him on Twitter @packetstealer

Sora's appearance in Super Smash Bros. was a big moment for the series. As the final DLC character in Nintendo's epic crossover, the Kingdom Hearts hero's appearance finally fulfilled years of speculation and dreams on the part of fans. It was also unexpected.

For many years, a Sora cameo was considered unlikely due to the licensing restrictions involved in working with Disney. But in a new interview with Game Informer, Kingdom Hearts director Tetsuya Nomura says that, actually, working with Disney was fine. It was Nomura himself who was strict.

"Obviously, I was very happy that we were able to have Sora make an appearance in Smash Bros. Ultimate. Most of the feedback when Sora was [announced] for Smash Bros. Ultimate was, 'I can't believe Disney okayed for him to be in this game.' Behind the scenes, I was actually the one being very picky about his appearance in Smash Bros. Disney was the one that was like, 'Go ahead! This is a great opportunity,'" Nomura explains.

"I thought it would be tough to pull off because it might clash with the established lore in Kingdom Hearts and the Disney worlds, so it was an opportunity I had to consider very carefully. After seeing how happy everybody was in welcoming Sora to Smash Bros., I feel like the end result was really great."

Nomura is well-known within industry circles for his exacting attention to detail in his art. The famed artist has been with Square Enix since the mid-90s, exerting a huge amount of influence on Final Fantasy's style before moving on to projects such as Kingdom Hearts.

According to Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai, Sora's inclusion in the Smash Bros. roster was the result of a chance meeting with a Disney representative at an awards show, which helped to kickstart discussions with the media giant. After careful negotiations between Nintendo, Disney, and Square Enix, Sora finally joined Sephiroth, Minecraft Steve, and the rest of the guest characters in Fighters Pass 2.

Since then, Square Enix has announced Kingdom Hearts 4, which Nomura further details in the Game Informer interview. It will feature Sora's adventures in the Quadratum, where he will seemingly venture through an abstract version of the real world. Don't worry, though: Nomura says that Disney worlds and maybe even Final Fantasy characters will appear in Kingdom Hearts 4 in due time.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Sora's appearance in Super Smash Bros. was a big moment for the series. As the final DLC character in Nintendo's epic crossover, the Kingdom Hearts hero's appearance finally fulfilled years of speculation and dreams on the part of fans. It was also unexpected.

For many years, a Sora cameo was considered unlikely due to the licensing restrictions involved in working with Disney. But in a new interview with Game Informer, Kingdom Hearts director Tetsuya Nomura says that, actually, working with Disney was fine. It was Nomura himself who was strict.

"Obviously, I was very happy that we were able to have Sora make an appearance in Smash Bros. Ultimate. Most of the feedback when Sora was [announced] for Smash Bros. Ultimate was, 'I can't believe Disney okayed for him to be in this game.' Behind the scenes, I was actually the one being very picky about his appearance in Smash Bros. Disney was the one that was like, 'Go ahead! This is a great opportunity,'" Nomura explains.

"I thought it would be tough to pull off because it might clash with the established lore in Kingdom Hearts and the Disney worlds, so it was an opportunity I had to consider very carefully. After seeing how happy everybody was in welcoming Sora to Smash Bros., I feel like the end result was really great."

Nomura is well-known within industry circles for his exacting attention to detail in his art. The famed artist has been with Square Enix since the mid-90s, exerting a huge amount of influence on Final Fantasy's style before moving on to projects such as Kingdom Hearts.

According to Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai, Sora's inclusion in the Smash Bros. roster was the result of a chance meeting with a Disney representative at an awards show, which helped to kickstart discussions with the media giant. After careful negotiations between Nintendo, Disney, and Square Enix, Sora finally joined Sephiroth, Minecraft Steve, and the rest of the guest characters in Fighters Pass 2.

Since then, Square Enix has announced Kingdom Hearts 4, which Nomura further details in the Game Informer interview. It will feature Sora's adventures in the Quadratum, where he will seemingly venture through an abstract version of the real world. Don't worry, though: Nomura says that Disney worlds and maybe even Final Fantasy characters will appear in Kingdom Hearts 4 in due time.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

HBO Max Latin America will be taking the Dark Knight to Aztec Mexico in a new project titled Batman Azteca: Choque de Imperios ("Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires"), Variety reports.

The original, Spanish-language animated film will place the World's Greatest Detective in Aztec Mexico and center viewers in the arcane culture of Mesoamerica. Borrowing beats from Batman's origin story, the film will follow a young Aztec boy, Yohualli Coatl, as he trains with his mentor Acatzin — developing equipment and weaponry in the temple of Tzinacan, the bat god.

But unlike other Batman stories, like Batman: Three Jokers, or Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, which saw Bruce Wayne choosing not to exact revenge against his parent's killer, this project will seem to center on Yohualli going after the Spanish Conquistadors who murdered his father, the village leader Toltecatzin.

Though a release date and trailer is to be announced, Juan Meza-León ("Harley Quinn") will direct the feature, which will be produced entirely in Mexico and showcase top local talent. In addition, Alejandro Díaz Barriga, an expert on Mesoamerican studies and the ethnic history of Mexico and the Andean region, will work closely with the team to ensure the indigenous representation portrayed in the film is appropriate and relevant.

This new film adds to the slew of Batman animated projects soon to come, like DC League of Super-Pets (July 29), the Batmobile-centered Batwheels (Fall 2022), Harley Quinn Season 3 (Summer 2022) and the highly-anticipated spiritual successor to Batman: The Animated Series, Batman: Caped Crusader (TBA 2023).

In the past, fans and critics have responded well to animated Batman movies like Batman: Under the Red Hood and Batman: Year One and Warner Home Video have kept up their share of projects releasing alongside big studio films like Matt Reeves' The Batman.

Most recently, Warner Home Video released the second part to their adaptation of Jeph Loeb's acclaimed Batman: The Long Halloween comic run, which IGN gave a 9 out of 10 and called "one of the best Batman movies, period."

Check out the review for it here, and also read IGN's review of Matt Reeves' The Batman.

Diego Ramos Bechara is a freelance writer at IGN.

HBO Max Latin America will be taking the Dark Knight to Aztec Mexico in a new project titled Batman Azteca: Choque de Imperios ("Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires"), Variety reports.

The original, Spanish-language animated film will place the World's Greatest Detective in Aztec Mexico and center viewers in the arcane culture of Mesoamerica. Borrowing beats from Batman's origin story, the film will follow a young Aztec boy, Yohualli Coatl, as he trains with his mentor Acatzin — developing equipment and weaponry in the temple of Tzinacan, the bat god.

But unlike other Batman stories, like Batman: Three Jokers, or Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, which saw Bruce Wayne choosing not to exact revenge against his parent's killer, this project will seem to center on Yohualli going after the Spanish Conquistadors who murdered his father, the village leader Toltecatzin.

Though a release date and trailer is to be announced, Juan Meza-León ("Harley Quinn") will direct the feature, which will be produced entirely in Mexico and showcase top local talent. In addition, Alejandro Díaz Barriga, an expert on Mesoamerican studies and the ethnic history of Mexico and the Andean region, will work closely with the team to ensure the indigenous representation portrayed in the film is appropriate and relevant.

This new film adds to the slew of Batman animated projects soon to come, like DC League of Super-Pets (July 29), the Batmobile-centered Batwheels (Fall 2022), Harley Quinn Season 3 (Summer 2022) and the highly-anticipated spiritual successor to Batman: The Animated Series, Batman: Caped Crusader (TBA 2023).

In the past, fans and critics have responded well to animated Batman movies like Batman: Under the Red Hood and Batman: Year One and Warner Home Video have kept up their share of projects releasing alongside big studio films like Matt Reeves' The Batman.

Most recently, Warner Home Video released the second part to their adaptation of Jeph Loeb's acclaimed Batman: The Long Halloween comic run, which IGN gave a 9 out of 10 and called "one of the best Batman movies, period."

Check out the review for it here, and also read IGN's review of Matt Reeves' The Batman.

Diego Ramos Bechara is a freelance writer at IGN.

May was a slow, slow, slow month for video games. So slow, Skyrim was one of the top 20 games in the US by dollar sales.

According to The NPD Group's monthly report, game sales were at their lowest for a single month since February 2020, down 19% year-over-year to $3.7 billion. It's a significant milestone after the surge of spending gaming saw during pandemic-related lockdowns. Why is it happening now? One major reason: no massive new games.

Elden Ring was the best-selling game of May, after taking the No.2 spot in April to LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and it remains the best-selling game this year. LEGO Star Wars dropped to No.2 this month, followed by Nintendo Switch Sports - though it's always possible Nintendo first-party games sell better than depicted since Nintendo doesn't share digital sales data with The NPD Group.

At No.4 was the only new game release in May to breach the top 50 best sellers for May: Evil Dead: The Game. With only one new game in the top 50 and even blockbusters like Elden Ring starting to slow down, that left room for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, of all things, to rank No.20 in its first appearance in the top 20 since November 2017, with Steam accounting for nearly half of its May sales. Welcome back, Dragonborn.

While hardware sales were doing their best to help, it's not like May is a massive month for people trying to buy an Xbox, PlayStation, or Switch. Overall hardware sales dropped 11% year-over-year to $216 million, with the Switch selling the most in both unit and dollar sales for the month.

The top 20 games by dollar sales for the month of May are as follows:

1. Elden Ring
2. LEGO: Star Wars: The Skywalker saga
3. Nintendo Switch Sports
4. Evil Dead: The Game
5. MLB: The Show 22
6. Kirby and the Forgotten Land
7. Call of Duty: Vanguard
8. Mario Kart 8
9. Gran Turismo 7
10. Pokemon Legends: Arceus
11. Minecraft
12. Horizon 2: Forbidden West
13. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
14. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
15. Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War
16. FIFA 22
17. Mario Party Superstars
18. Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl
19. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
20. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

May was a slow, slow, slow month for video games. So slow, Skyrim was one of the top 20 games in the US by dollar sales.

According to The NPD Group's monthly report, game sales were at their lowest for a single month since February 2020, down 19% year-over-year to $3.7 billion. It's a significant milestone after the surge of spending gaming saw during pandemic-related lockdowns. Why is it happening now? One major reason: no massive new games.

Elden Ring was the best-selling game of May, after taking the No.2 spot in April to LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and it remains the best-selling game this year. LEGO Star Wars dropped to No.2 this month, followed by Nintendo Switch Sports - though it's always possible Nintendo first-party games sell better than depicted since Nintendo doesn't share digital sales data with The NPD Group.

At No.4 was the only new game release in May to breach the top 50 best sellers for May: Evil Dead: The Game. With only one new game in the top 50 and even blockbusters like Elden Ring starting to slow down, that left room for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, of all things, to rank No.20 in its first appearance in the top 20 since November 2017, with Steam accounting for nearly half of its May sales. Welcome back, Dragonborn.

While hardware sales were doing their best to help, it's not like May is a massive month for people trying to buy an Xbox, PlayStation, or Switch. Overall hardware sales dropped 11% year-over-year to $216 million, with the Switch selling the most in both unit and dollar sales for the month.

The top 20 games by dollar sales for the month of May are as follows:

1. Elden Ring
2. LEGO: Star Wars: The Skywalker saga
3. Nintendo Switch Sports
4. Evil Dead: The Game
5. MLB: The Show 22
6. Kirby and the Forgotten Land
7. Call of Duty: Vanguard
8. Mario Kart 8
9. Gran Turismo 7
10. Pokemon Legends: Arceus
11. Minecraft
12. Horizon 2: Forbidden West
13. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
14. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
15. Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War
16. FIFA 22
17. Mario Party Superstars
18. Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl
19. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
20. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

At a time when many major tech companies are actively trying to stamp out unionization movements, Microsoft has just taken a proactive step toward recognizing unions that don't even exist yet, via a partnership with the Communication Workers of America (CWA).

The two groups announced that they have entered into a labor neutrality agreement, which will take effect 60 days after Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard officially closes, which is planned prior to June 30, 2023.

The agreement states that Microsoft will take a "neutral approach" when employees express interest in unionizing, and will permit them to communicate with their colleagues and union representatives about unionization "in a way that encourages information sharing and avoids business disruptions." The language seems to imply that Microsoft will not try to hinder employees from discussing unions, and in return employees will avoid action that might slow down work, such as strikes.

Furthermore, the agreement allows employees access to "an innovative technology-supported and streamlined process for choosing whether to join a union" that includes individual employee privacy. And finally, the agreement lays the groundwork for CWA and Microsoft to work together to resolve any issues that occur while under this agreement, including an expedited arbitration process if a consensus cannot be found.

“This agreement provides a pathway for Activision Blizzard workers to exercise their democratic rights to organize and collectively bargain after the close of the Microsoft acquisition and establishes a high road framework for employers in the games industry,” said CWA President Chris Shelton. "...The agreement addresses CWA’s previous concerns regarding the acquisition, and, as a result, we support its approval and look forward to working collaboratively with Microsoft after this deal closes."

CWA and Microsoft have stated that they are also exploring further collaboration in the future on initiatives related to new technology and skill building programs.

Microsoft, and Xbox specifically, have already been more welcoming toward unions than most in recent months, with Phil Spencer explicitly stating he would voluntarily recognize the Raven Software union within Activision prior to its formation late last month. Activision Blizzard was, in the lead-up to the vote, actively hostile toward Raven's union. We've since also seen a group of QA workers at BioWare working on Dragon Age successfully unionize, and last year Vodeo because the first official North American games union.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

At a time when many major tech companies are actively trying to stamp out unionization movements, Microsoft has just taken a proactive step toward recognizing unions that don't even exist yet, via a partnership with the Communication Workers of America (CWA).

The two groups announced that they have entered into a labor neutrality agreement, which will take effect 60 days after Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard officially closes, which is planned prior to June 30, 2023.

The agreement states that Microsoft will take a "neutral approach" when employees express interest in unionizing, and will permit them to communicate with their colleagues and union representatives about unionization "in a way that encourages information sharing and avoids business disruptions." The language seems to imply that Microsoft will not try to hinder employees from discussing unions, and in return employees will avoid action that might slow down work, such as strikes.

Furthermore, the agreement allows employees access to "an innovative technology-supported and streamlined process for choosing whether to join a union" that includes individual employee privacy. And finally, the agreement lays the groundwork for CWA and Microsoft to work together to resolve any issues that occur while under this agreement, including an expedited arbitration process if a consensus cannot be found.

“This agreement provides a pathway for Activision Blizzard workers to exercise their democratic rights to organize and collectively bargain after the close of the Microsoft acquisition and establishes a high road framework for employers in the games industry,” said CWA President Chris Shelton. "...The agreement addresses CWA’s previous concerns regarding the acquisition, and, as a result, we support its approval and look forward to working collaboratively with Microsoft after this deal closes."

CWA and Microsoft have stated that they are also exploring further collaboration in the future on initiatives related to new technology and skill building programs.

Microsoft, and Xbox specifically, have already been more welcoming toward unions than most in recent months, with Phil Spencer explicitly stating he would voluntarily recognize the Raven Software union within Activision prior to its formation late last month. Activision Blizzard was, in the lead-up to the vote, actively hostile toward Raven's union. We've since also seen a group of QA workers at BioWare working on Dragon Age successfully unionize, and last year Vodeo because the first official North American games union.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.