A new range of Kingdom Hearts Tamagotchi has been announced to commemorate the series' 20th anniversary. These new devices will be part of the Tamagotchi Nano range and will let you raise characters like Sora, Kairi, and Goofy as Tamagotchi pets.
What do we know about the Kingdom Hearts Tamagotchi range?
2022 marks the official Kingdom Hearts 20th anniversary, with the original PlayStation 2 game launching on March 28th, 2002 in Japan. The series has already kicked off the year in style with the launch of a brand new tabletop crossover with Talisman, but that's not all that's coming. According to the official Tamagotchi Twitter account (which is entirely in Japanese, so we're using machine translation), new Kingdom Hearts Tamagotchi devices are on the way. They'll be part of the Nano line, which is a smaller, monochromatic variant of the standard Tamagotchi. Characters currently being advertised include Sora, Kairi, and Riku, as well as party member stalwarts Donald Duck and Goofy. There's also a competition currently underway to determine which of the series' iconic Heartless enemies will be immortalized in Tamagotchi form.
Right now, the Kingdom Hearts Tamagotchi range has a release window of October 2022...in Japan. Bandai Namco is taking pre-orders for the devices right now, but there doesn't appear to be any kind of official Western release date. As such, we're not sure if these devices will actually come to the West, but we can hope. After all, who hasn't dreamed of leaving Donald Duck to d-I mean, of raising their very own cute little Kingdom Hearts character right in their pocket? Here's hoping we get a Western release date soon. Hey, who knows? Maybe these Tamagotchi will answer some of the unanswered Kingdom Hearts UX ending questions. I wouldn't put it past Tetsuya Nomura to include plot-critical details in these little toys.
What else is going on for the Kingdom Hearts 20th anniversary celebrations?
As well as the aforementioned Tamagotchi tie-in, there are plenty more plans for Kingdom Hearts 20th anniversary products and celebrations. The official Kingdom Hearts store has a range of new products to pre-order for the anniversary, including Sora and Riku plushies, pretty jewelry, and some rather fetching new bags. Series mastermind Nomura also tweeted that he's working on some art to mark the occasion, although it's not ready quite yet (again, the tweet is in Japanese, and we're using machine translation). There's also the Kingdom Hearts 20th anniversary café, which opened up in Tokyo on Saturday and runs until May 6th. All in all, there's plenty underway for the anniversary, although we're not sure if some of these products will make it to Western shores yet.
The North American Kingdom Hearts release date was in September 2002, so there's a good chance we'll hear more about any potential content for the 20th anniversary celebrations in the West closer to September this year. Knowing the reputation the franchise has for including relevant plot in spinoff rhythm games and other curios, I'd strongly recommend you keep an eye out for what the franchise intends to do if you want to keep up with the latest Kingdom Hearts narrative developments. I'm only half-joking when I say Nomura really could include pivotal backstory on the side of a Mickey Mouse coffee mug.
