Tekken 8 and Tekken 7 game director Kohei Ikeda (Nakatsu) announced on June 1 that he has left Bandai Namco Studios. This comes only half a year following the departure of longtime Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada.
In a letter addressed to the Tekken fan community posted to his personal X account, Ikeda looked back on his 20-year run at Bandai Namco, which started with his involvement in Soulcalibur IV. He refers to his subsequent time on the Tekken development team as one of the most cherished experiences of his life, expressing gratitude to his mentors, coworkers and the whole fighting game community.
While Ikeda does not touch on his reasons for leaving the company, he mentions he will be “taking on new challenges” as a game developer, so perhaps we can expect an update in the coming days.
As for Tekken, Ikeda promises the series is in good hands, as he has entrusted both his personal values and the shared values of the Tekkken Project to an “incredible team.”
