* 'Kingdom Hearts 4' video game to debut in 2027

* Four-minute trailer expands on 90 seconds of footage shown

on Friday

* Franchise creator Nomura said Pixar's 'Coco' was chosen

for strong gameplay synergies

* Disney Channel and Disney+ anime adaptation is in

development with Nomura involved

By Danielle Broadway

ANAHEIM, California, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Walt Disney ( DIS )

and Japanese video game company Square Enix ( SQNXF ) on Saturday

previewed the yet-to-be-released "Kingdom Hearts 4" game as they

celebrated the high-selling franchise's upcoming 25th

anniversary at a Disney ( DIS ) fan convention in Anaheim.

"Kingdom Hearts" is one of nine video games that have

grossed more than $1 billion at retail for Disney ( DIS ), its executive

vice president of games and digital entertainment Sean Shoptaw

said in the company's strategy report on Thursday.

Blending characters and worlds from the Square Enix ( SQNXF ) "Final

Fantasy" franchise and Disney ( DIS ) films, the action role-playing

series "Kingdom Hearts" follows Sora, a teenager whose home

world is destroyed by creatures known as Heartless.

"Kingdom Hearts 4" follows Sora after the events of the

third game as he becomes trapped in Quadratum, a fictional

version of Shibuya, a real-life business hub in Tokyo, Japan.

"Kingdom Hearts 4" will debut in 2027, and a panel at

Disney's ( DIS ) D23 entertainment showcase on Saturday displayed a

four-minute trailer featuring a new world based on Pixar's

"Coco," expanding on the 90 seconds of footage shown on Friday.

The extended footage reunited fans with familiar characters

including Donald, Goofy, King Mickey and Hades, along with

original "Kingdom Hearts" characters and glimpses of other

worlds.

The panel included surprise guest Tetsuya Nomura, creator of

the franchise, who said he aimed to include Disney ( DIS ) titles that

created strong gameplay synergies.

"We felt that 'Coco' would be the best world that would

really help to achieve that," he said of the film about a boy

who enters the "Land of the Dead" to find his

great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer.

Panelists also shared details about the new Paper Mickey

Mouse world, where Mickey becomes a playable character in a

storybook setting for the first time.

Players can travel through cracks in walls, transform into

an airplane and solve puzzles, marking a departure from the

series' traditional adventure format.

Panelists also teased a significant role for "Sleeping

Beauty" villain Maleficent, who is returning for "Kingdom Hearts

4."

The first "Kingdom Hearts" game was released in 2002 for the

PlayStation 2. Directed by Nomura, it launched a long-running

collaboration between Square Enix ( SQNXF ) and The Walt Disney Company ( DIS ).

The franchise will be adapted into an original anime series

for Disney Channel and Disney+, it was announced on Friday. No

title or release date was given, though Nomura said on Saturday

that he is heavily involved in its development.