Following a month of speculation and fan outcry, Square Enix and Disney have officially stated that the key art for the upcoming Nintendo Switch release, The Kingdom Hearts Collection [I-III], was not generated using artificial intelligence. The statement, shared exclusively with GameSpot, attributes the peculiar visual discrepancies to human error during the creation process.
The controversy began after the release of the key art, which featured several noticeable flaws. Among the most striking issues were Donald Duck's hands, which appeared to have both four and five fingers, warped clocktower hands, uneven Keyblade keychain links, and melting crown-shaped elements on Sora's belt chain. Additionally, the absence of Sora's signature shoe pattern and zippers that seemed to vanish were also pointed out by fans.
In response to the feedback, Square Enix stated, "We're aware of feedback regarding recent Kingdom Hearts visuals. These assets were created by our development team without the use of generative AI, and the issues resulted from human error." The company also noted that "Quality is extremely important to us, and updated assets have been implemented where appropriate."
An updated version of the key art has been released, primarily correcting Donald Duck's hand to feature the standard four digits. However, many of the other anomalies, such as the warped crowns on Sora's belt and the unusual links on Mickey's Keyblade keychain, remain in the revised image. The official trailer's YouTube thumbnail presents a third iteration of the art, where Donald's hand is obscured.
Despite the clarification, the exact circumstances that led to the initial flawed artwork, and how it passed through multiple approval stages, remain unexplained. Given Disney's stringent character representation guidelines, the appearance of such significant errors raises questions about the internal review process for the artwork.