Kingdom Hearts Collection's Art Apparently Wasn't Made With AI

Square Enix Claims Kingdom Hearts Collection's Art Didn't Use AI And Was Just "Human Error" Published Jul 31, 2026, 6:54 AM EDT George is the Lead News Editor for TheGamer, and has been working in the industry since 2021 after graduating from the University of South Wales with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. He has also previously written for RPG Site, WhatCulture, and PlayStation Lifestyle. George is an expert on platformers, action games, and fighters, but tends to play as many releases as possible. This hands-on experience lets him dive into gaming communities and follow the latest trends. Some of the games George has extensively covered first-hand include Dead Rising, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Ninja Gaiden 4. Sign in to your TheGamer account Square Enix has denied the allegations that the infamous key art for Kingdom Hearts Collection 1-3 was made with generative AI, noting that it was just “human error”. In a rarity for Kingdom Hearts, the last month or so has actually been incredibly exciting and given us tons to look forward to. The long-awaited second trailer for Kingdom Hearts 4 is already enough of a treat, but a fast-approaching Nintendo Switch 2 port for the entire series was the cherry on top of a damn good Direct. That excitement was dulled a little when the key art for the collection was more closely analysed and then accused of using generative AI. Donald Duck’s five-fingered hand, Sora’s undetailed shoes, and numerous other oddities led fans to believe our beloved series was dipping into the worst kind of technology, but Square Enix claims that isn’t the case. Kingdom Hearts Collection Didn’t Use Generative AI, Square Enix Says That’s A Lot Of Human Errors, If True Square Enix As reported by Gamespot, Square Enix finally decided to break its silence on the matter and reach out with a statement about the Kingdom Hearts collection’s key art. The statement confirms that Square is “aware of feedback regarding recent Kingdom Hearts visuals” and that they were created by the developers “without the use of generative AI”. The issues with the key art are completely down to “human error”, Square says. It also confirms that it’s released new artwork in response, which appears to be referring to the updated key art that simply hides Donald’s hand behind Sora and keeps most of the other issues, like the off-looking clock tower. While I’d like to believe Square that the key art wasn’t made with AI and whoever drew it (presumably Tetsuya Nomura, but that’s not been confirmed) just got a little sloppy, there are a few too many issues to make blaming human error a fair assessment. Hopefully, if generative AI was used in any way, Square has learned from the heavy backlash. Kingdom Hearts Systems Released September 17, 2002 ESRB E for Everyone: Violence Developer(s) Square Enix Publisher(s) Square Enix Engine Unreal Engine 4 Cross-Platform Play android, ios Cross Save yes