When Katsuhiro Harada left Bandai Namco back during December 2025, after decades of working on the company’s fighting games, including Tekken and Soulcalibur, I said to the team that I doubted he would be the only major name to depart. It looks like I may have been right, as Kohei Ikeda, who served as chief producer and game director on Tekken 8, has announced that he has also left Bandai Namco Studios.
Ikeda, also known to many Tekken fans as Nakatsu, had been with Bandai Namco for 20 years. His work includes Tekken 7, Tekken 8, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Tekken 3D: Prime Edition, and Soulcalibur IV. That is a long history with the company, and his departure comes at a very interesting time for Bandai Namco’s flagship fighting game series.
As for why Ikeda is leaving, he has only stated that he plans to continue taking on new challenges as a game developer. That leaves the door open for plenty of speculation, especially with Harada now leading VS Studio SNK, a newly formed SNK-backed studio. Of course, it is easy to wonder if Ikeda could eventually end up joining Harada there. Nothing has been confirmed, so for now,...
