Tekken 8 director jumps ship to join Harada’s new Vs Studio team
Kohei Ikeda, game director of Tekken 8, has left Bandai Namco to join Vs Studio, the new venture led by former Tekken series director Katsuhiro Harada. Ikeda announced the move on X, saying it felt "nostalgic" to work with former colleagues again while also being excited about building something new. The move extends a run of high-profile exits from the Tekken 8 team, raising questions about the franchise's future leadership at Bandai Namco.
Ikeda joins Harada and fellow Tekken veteran Yuichi Yonemori, who left Bandai Namco in May, reuniting three senior figures from the series under one roof. Harada himself departed Bandai Namco in December after months of hinting at a move, saying he was not worried about Tekken's prospects without him. Vs Studio, announced in May and backed financially by SNK (of King of Fighters and Metal Slug fame), aims to "combine technology, sensibility, and world-class expertise," though its first project remains unannounced, with speculation it could be a new fighting game.
- Tekken 8 director Kohei Ikeda joins Harada's new Vs Studio.
- He reunites with Harada and Yuichi Yonemori, both ex-Bandai Namco.
- Vs Studio, backed by SNK, hasn't revealed its first game yet.
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Tekken is a long-running fighting game series published by Japan’s Bandai Namco. Its latest main game, Tekken 8, is directed by Kohei Ikeda; Katsuhiro Harada was the series’ director for many years, and Yuichi Yonemori is another veteran developer who worked on the games.
Vs Studio is a new venture led by Harada and backed by SNK, the company behind fighting game series such as The King of Fighters. It brings together several people with experience on Tekken, but has not announced its first project. The departures matter because they leave Bandai Namco without some senior figures associated with the series as it plans Tekken’s future.