{"id":71145,"date":"2026-08-18T18:55:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T09:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=71145"},"modified":"2026-08-18T18:58:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T09:58:05","slug":"former-tekken-8-director-kohei-ikeda-joins-katsuhiro-haradas-vs-studio-following-departure-from-bandai-namco-studios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/former-tekken-8-director-kohei-ikeda-joins-katsuhiro-haradas-vs-studio-following-departure-from-bandai-namco-studios\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Tekken 8 director Kohei Ikeda joins Katsuhiro Harada&#8217;s VS Studio following departure from Bandai Namco Studios"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following his <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/tekken-8-director-kohei-ikeda-leaves-bandai-namco-studios-after-20-years\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">departure<\/a> from Bandai Namco Studios back in June this year, former Tekken 8 and Tekken 7 director Kohei Ikeda, known as Nakatsu, has <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/nkt_dreamer\/status\/2089637245762597198?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a> that he is now part of <strong>VS Studio SNK<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VS Studio is a Tokyo-based independent game development studio led by former Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada with support from Fatal Fury developer SNK. Harada established the studio not long after leaving Bandai Namco Studios himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Writing on his personal X account, Ikeda commented:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"background-color:#eaeaea\"><em>Working on games again with two of my former bosses feels nostalgic in many ways, while at the same time, the excitement of creating something completely new makes every day incredibly fulfilling.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While there are no details available yet on what VS Studio is working on, CEO Harada has mentioned that he&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/the-vs-in-katsuhiro-haradas-new-vs-studio-doesnt-stand-for-versus-but-the-tekken-veteran-is-keen-on-exploring-competitive\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">eager to explore competitive games<\/a> and answer to the expectations players surely hold of him. Now that there&#8217;s another Tekken veteran on board, the fighting game community likely has even more to look forward to from the studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The studio is backed by Fatal Fury developer SNK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":66526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[{"did":"did:plc:uzrrhkfyjrfdsynj2voztcf2","date":"2026-08-18T09:55:21+00:00","uri":"at:\/\/did:plc:uzrrhkfyjrfdsynj2voztcf2\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mtdx6j5nsv2v","response":"{\"uri\":\"at:\/\/did:plc:uzrrhkfyjrfdsynj2voztcf2\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mtdx6j5nsv2v\",\"cid\":\"bafyreick5kf2imj735e5il5p2m4juzxrfbwfwcus4s23ecn4up35w52tem\",\"commit\":{\"cid\":\"bafyreidn52oyh6uwkdlzt43v3bnksi7vkaun6l7dv46ff7ediaesruc2fe\",\"rev\":\"3mtdx6j5rpv2v\"},\"validationStatus\":\"valid\"}"}],"autoblue_post_url":"","autoblue_publish_document":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-71145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":7}},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - 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