Kingdom Hearts Union Cross’ Story Ends in Japan, But Global Fans Left in the Dark

Back in February, Square Enix announced Kingdom Hearts Union Cross; the long-running browser turned mobile game, would be coming to an end. Kingdom Hearts fans have been eagerly anticipating this ending as the story updates became less frequent. The narrative of Union Cross became significantly more important to the narrative of the main series.

Initially, Union Cross had been stated to conclude in May. However, shortly before the planned update, a new announcement was made, which extended service through June. The story’s finale would be split into two parts, one dropping on the original date and one to come at a later time. At this point, the Japanese and Global versions had essentially reached parity with each other, except for a few small pieces of non-story content.

The first part of the final update was released worldwide in April. While some fans were disappointed with the contents – a single, twenty-minute story cutscene with no gameplay – it answered many of the ongoing questions players still had while setting up the last few, which will presumably conclude in the final update.

That final update dropped at 3 PM JST in Japan on May 31, as announced ahead of time by the Japanese version and its related social media accounts. However, the Global version has been radio silent since May 14, the date it announced that the conclusion of service was being pushed back into the end of June due to the splitting of the update.

Right now, at the time of publication, despite the previous update being pushed essentially simultaneously, Japanese players (and global players who can read Japanese or those who look up translations) know how this game ends. The entire rest of the fanbase is being left out in the cold.

One could argue that May 31, being a holiday in the United States, is delaying the update. Still, Square Enix’s global team has done little to no promotion for the end of this plot-critical title.

When Kingdom Hearts Union Cross ends service on June 29, it will transition into an offline “theater mode,” a necessity for fans who have held off on playing this title due to its rather infamous gacha mechanics and $15 per week VIP subscription.

While I have complicated feelings about both of those things, I personally have been defending this title for years. Hopefully, global fans receive an update soon as their support is the only reason this game has lasted as long as it has.