Katsuhiro Harada has announced that he will be leaving Bandai Namco Games at the end of 2025, having served with the company on the Tekken franchise for 31 years.
I’d like to share that I’ll be leaving Bandai Namco at the end of 2025. 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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Harada-san revealed that he will be appearing at the Tekken World Tour Finals at the end of January 2026 as a guest, and will be sharing more details about what he’s going to be up to next “at a later date.” He also revealed that he’s been gradually handing over all of his responsibilities in the past four — five years to the rest of the team, including the stories and worldbuilding that he oversaw.
Tekken 8, the latest entry in the long-running fighting game franchise, was released in January 2024 for PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S. The game is currently at the end of its second season, which saw the release of four characters: Anna, Fahkumram, Armor King, and Miary Zo.
[Source – Katsuhiro Harada on X]