The Tekken series has been thrown into further disarray today as, following the recent departure of veteran developer Katsuhiro Harada, Bandai Namco just lost another legendary Tekken stalwart.
In a new statement, Tekken 8 game director and 20-year Bandai vet Kohei Ikeda announced that he is leaving the studio to take on "new challenges as a game developer."
Tekken 8 is in a weird spot. The game has faced near-constant backlash since its 2024 release, most recently with the start of Season 3. It faced a fresh wave of review-bombings, with fans sharing they felt Bandai Namco was "disrespecting the fanbase." This forced its developers to rush out an emergency patch to try to counter some of the negative response.
A few months earlier, Tekken creative director Katsuhiro Harada, who'd previously said he felt online media had made Tekken 8's negative reaction seem worse than it was, announced he was leaving Bandai Namco after 30 years.
Now, less than six months after Harada's departure, the studio will be forced to reconsider the series again, as another veteran, Kohei Ikeda, has announced he will be leaving it behind.
Ikeda, known as Nakatsu, has been with Bandai Namco...
