Updated
Updated · Nintendo Life · Jun 10
Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts Art Sparks AI Debate Over Donald Duck's 4 Fingers
Updated
Updated · Nintendo Life · Jun 10

Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts Art Sparks AI Debate Over Donald Duck's 4 Fingers

3 articles · Updated · Nintendo Life · Jun 10

Summary

  • Nintendo Direct excitement over Kingdom Hearts 4 and native Switch 2 versions of earlier games quickly gave way to scrutiny of Square Enix's North American Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] box art.
  • Donald Duck appears with four fingers on one hand instead of his usual three, a detail fans flagged as a possible sign that AI was used to enhance or extend Tetsuya Nomura's original artwork.
  • Artists and streamers on Bluesky argued the image may not be fully AI-generated but rather a reworked version of Nomura's art, with hidden areas extrapolated and repositioned for the Western cover.
  • Square Enix had not commented at publication, but the dispute drew extra attention because the company has previously said it plans broad AI use in areas including QA.

Insights

Does a four-fingered Donald Duck expose a critical flaw in Square Enix's ambitious company-wide AI strategy?
Given Disney's own AI deals, is the fan backlash a sign of genuine concern or just industry growing pains?