Kingdom Hearts is an action role-playing game developed and published by Squaresoft (now Square Enix) in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the result of a collaboration between Square and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney's animated features with those from the Final Fantasy series, developed by Square. The story follows Sora, a young boy, as he is thrown into an epic battle against the darkness. He is joined by Donald Duck and Goofy, classic Disney characters, who help him on his quest.

Kingdom Hearts was a departure from Square's standard role-playing games by introducing a substantial action-adventure element. In addition, it had an all-star voice cast which included many of the Disney characters' original voice actors. Kingdom Hearts was also longtime Square character designer Tetsuya Nomura's first time in a directorial position.

Kingdom Hearts was praised for its unusual combination of action and role-playing, as well as its unexpectedly harmonious mix of Square and Disney. It received numerous year-end "Best" video game awards and was a dominating presence in the 2002 holiday season and went on to achieve Sony "Greatest Hits" status. Since its release, Kingdom Hearts has sold over 5.6 million copies worldwide and has been followed by two sequels.