Tekken boss Katsuhiro Harada leaving Bandai Namco after 30 years at the studio
Tekken boss Katsuhiro Harada will leave Bandai Namco at the end of 2025, closing a 30-year tenure as he hands the franchise to a new generation of developers.
Tekken chief Katsuhiro Harada will leave Bandai Namco at the end of 2025, marking the end of a three-decade run that helped turn the fighting series into one of gaming’s most recognisable franchises.
In a statement, Harada said Tekken’s 30th anniversary felt like “the most fitting moment to bring one chapter to a close,” reflecting on his early days hauling arcade cabinets into community halls and asking people to “please try Tekken”.
He said those grassroots encounters formed the core of his identity as a developer, even as the series scaled into a global esports fixture.
Harada added that the recent loss of close friends and the retirement of respected colleagues prompted him to consider “the time [he has] left as a creator”.
He sought advice from PlayStation legend Ken Kutaragi before deciding to step away.
Over the past several years, he has gradually handed off Tekken’s story and worldbuilding to the current team.
Across his 30-year tenure, Harada worked on projects including SoulCalibur, Pokkén Tournament and VR experiment Summer Lesson, alongside steering Tekken through eight mainline entries and countless updates.
His departure follows months of speculation, fuelled by a “looking for work” tag on LinkedIn and comments earlier this year about the franchise eventually continuing without him.
Tekken 8’s rocky post-launch period has already sparked conversations about the series’ future, while producer Michael Murray has hinted he may have “only one Tekken game left”.
But industry precedent suggests legacy fighters can thrive without long-time figureheads, as seen with Street Fighter 6’s success following Yoshinori Ono’s exit.
Harada promised to share details of his next move later, but for now, he thanked fans and colleagues.
He said: “Every project became an irreplaceable experience for me.”
