Tekken 8 game director follows franchise head Harada in leaving Bandai Namco

It’s a turbulent but interesting time for the Tekken franchise and, perhaps, for the fighting game industry as a whole. News broke out last year that Katsuhiro Harada, the developer whose name is synonymous with the Tekken fighting game series, was leaving Bandai Namco. This was followed last May by the announcement that Harada is joining former rival company SNK Corporation to found a new studio. Now, another name closely associated with Tekken is leaving the franchise behind, as Kohei Ikeda also announced he’s leaving Bandai Namco.

Ikeda was the game director for the two most recent entries in the franchise, Tekken 7 and Tekken 8. As such, he contributed to shaping the game series’ modern outlook. Just like Harada, Ikeda has had a long career at Bandai Namco, joining the company back in 2007. In a heartfelt message, Ikea recounted his early days as a fighting game fanatic, and expressed pride and gratitude after having the chance to work on a franchise that had such a massive impact on his life.

It’s inevitable to wonder if Ikeda will join Harada on his new enterprise, VSStudioSNK. Bringing along the best members of your former team is not unheard of. Harada and Ikeda have a lot of experience working together, sharing the role of game director for Tekken 7. Meanwhile, the Tekken franchise doesn’t show signs of stopping. The recent announcement of Yujiro Hanma from the Baki franchise as the guest fighter for Tekken 8‘s season 3 made waves, gathering the attention of thousands of fans and even pushing up the game’s sales.

Fighting games may be far removed from the time when they peaked in popularity, but the genre is still alive and well. There is a lot of anticipation for Harada’s new project, and soon fans will find out if that will include Kohei Ikeda too.