The head of Tekken talks about the future of the franchise

TekkenExecutive producer Katsuhiro Harada may stick around for just one more chapter in the long-running fighting franchise, according to a recent statement from the veteran. Harada was attacked Tekken in one way or another over the last few decades.

Since the first game came out in 1994, Tekken it consistently received favorable scores and grew in popularity exponentially, becoming practically synonymous with the fighting game genre. In total, the Bandai Namco-owned franchise has spawned 11 titles over the span of approximately 30 years. For much of that time, Harada took part in multiple proceedings Tekken titles, with his latest involvement in this year's episode, Tekken 8. After spending a lot of time working on the franchise, an update was recently shared about the game's Japanese producer's role in the future of the series.

In an interview with VG247, Harada said he and fellow producer Michael Murray “may just have one more Tekken” in them, due to factors such as aging and “how this plays out in Japan and development.” As he recalls the number of years he has under his belt working on Tekkenthe executive producer said that there may eventually be a new team that takes over, as most of the current developers have already been there for decades. Acknowledging the possibility that the game will change after his departure, Harada said that the game could become “more casual” like the Smash Bros. games.

Highlighting the importance of having a balance of power between creative and business teams working on the future Tekken games, Harada revealed that he's “pretty worried” about the creative side of things losing out to the business side once veteran creators decide to step down. He said there must be members on the creative team who “know the game well and know what it needs to be”. The executive producer said that people interested in finances are “naturally quite strong” and that there has to be someone on the creative team “strong enough to be on the same page as those people”. Furthermore, he added that it can be difficult to maintain this “delicate balance”, which he acknowledges is necessary to ensure the survival of the company.

In addition to talking about the future of the series, Katsuhiro Harada also touched on the likely reasons for the series' enduring success. Tekken compared to other 3D fighting games of its time. He felt that the “three pillars”, which include the creative side, the marketing side and the community side, were key to ensuring longevity for the franchise. While the longtime developers are still at the helm, Harada's statements suggest that fans should be ready for a possible change in direction for Tekken as new creatives take control over the years.