Recently, the official D23 Disney Fan Expo app leaked two key pieces of information about Kingdom Hearts IV: veteran series creator Tai Yasue will once again serve as co-director, and the voice cast lineup suggests that Riku will appear in the new installment.
Tai Yasue has long partnered with Tetsuya Nomura since Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and was involved in the full development cycle of Kingdom Hearts III. He continues to serve as co-director alongside Nomura for the production of Kingdom Hearts IV, maintaining the series' established development team.
Meanwhile, Riku's voice actor David Gallagher appeared on the D23 guest list, attending a special panel alongside Sora's voice actor. This directly confirms that Riku will return as a major character in this title. Currently, Kairi is the only member of the original trio whose appearance has not yet been officially announced.
This year's D23 features an in-depth panel celebrating the 25th anniversary of Kingdom Hearts. It is speculated that new gameplay footage and world-building details for Kingdom Hearts IV will be revealed at the event. All core information about the game may be unveiled during the expo.