Tekken Creative Director Katsuhiro Harada has announced that he will be leaving Bandai Namco by the end of the year. He shared the news on Twitter, saying that the series’ 30th anniversary was a fitting moment to bring this chapter of his life to a close. Harada has been working on the series for 30 years, and mentioned that there are several reasons why he has chosen to make this decision.
In a long Twitter post, Harada noted that the death of close friends, the retirement of several Bandai Namco colleagues, as well as some advice by the father of PlayStation, Ken Kutaragi, helped him come to this decision. He hasn’t revealed what he’ll be doing next.
Katsuhiro Harada Is Leaving Bandai Namco
“I’d like to share that I’ll be leaving Bandai Namco at the end of 2025,” said Harada. “With the Tekken series reaching its 30th anniversary—an important milestone for a project I’ve devoted much of my life to—I felt this was the most fitting moment to bring one chapter to a close.
“My roots lie in the days when I supported small local tournaments in Japanese arcades and in small halls and community centers overseas. I still remember carrying arcade cabinets by myself, encouraging people to “Please try Tekken,” and directly facing the players right in front of me. The conversations and atmosphere we shared in those places became the core of who I am as a developer and game creator.”
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He mentioned that he has slowly handed over his day-to-day responsibilities to others at Bandai Namco, so that Tekken fans will not feel his loss immediately. He also noted that he will be sharing what’s next for him at a future date. Bandai Namco has asked him to attend the Tekken World Tournament in January 2026, so you can bet he’ll get a grand farewell.
Unfortunately, he never got to perform as a DJ at the Tekken World Tournament despite planning to do so on many occasions. While he won’t be doing so in January either, he compiled a 60-minute Tekken DJ mix that he edited himself. “Listening to it brings back many memories. “Thank you again, sincerely, for all these years,” he concluded.
- Released
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January 26, 2024
- ESRB
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t
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 5
- Multiplayer
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Local Multiplayer, Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
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PC, PS5 & Xbox Series X|S
