Tekken Boss Katsuhiro Harada Is Leaving Bandai Namco After 30 Years

It's not often that celebrity game developers step down from their posts, or personally survey how their games perform in international arcades, but Katsuhiro Harada has done both. After three decades with the Tekken (Japanese: Iron Fist) fighting game series, including directing since Tekken 3 (1997), Harada has formally announced his coming retirement on X/Twitter and even released a 58-minute "Final Mix" tribute to the entire series soundtrack on Soundcloud. Tekken 8 (2024) launched last year with day-one cross-platform support on PC, and is one of the most gorgeous Unreal Engine 5 showcases on PC and console alike.


This announcement comes less than two months after the death of Dead or Alive series director Tomonobu Itagaki, an event that also shook the entire industry—Harada included, since the two were very public rival heads of major 3D fighting games. Privately, the two deeply respected and appreciated each other, and Harada even gave the eulogy for his deceased rival at his November 27th memorial service, per another Harada tweet. Harada's announcement points to these events, among other deaths, pushing him to "reflect on the time I have left as a creator".

I came to Mr. Itagaki’s memorial service.
A lot of people have gathered here today.
I will be delivering the eulogy for him today. pic.twitter.com/uapsBEopyf

— Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) November 27, 2025

In his time as a public speaking head for the Tekken series, Harada has proven to be incredibly down-to-Earth and candid about game development and the people behind it, including acknowledging the demand for Waffle House representation in Tekken. His Twitter posts often include behind-the-scenes lore or trivia about Tekken and its development, or surrounding events in the games industry, including the slow decline of 3D fighting game series besides Tekken. While Dead or Alive, Virtua Fighter, and Soul Calibur among many others had long perished at the time of Tekken 8's release, there are signs of a resurgence, with Virtua Fighter 6 being in the works after a 20-year hiatus following Virtua Fighter 5 (2007). Harada's public response to that announcement was "More than 10 years late! But we've been waiting for you! Now get in the ring! And fight!".


Just four days ago, Tekken 8 received its latest DLC fighter, a brand-new character named Miary Zo. So far, the character has been praised on multiple fronts: for her unique design rooted in Madagascar representation (one of Tekken's greatest strengths being representation of international cultures and martial arts), carrying of "Ogre" from Tekken 3, and proving to be a surprisingly well-balanced character despite being the hottest new DLC. Tekken 8 has seen diminishing player counts since launch as the game has been going in some bold new directions versus the more neutral-focused predecessors, but sweeping balance changes are being planned for Season 3. By his own admission, Harada has prepared his team for this for over five years, so we doubt they'll be left with a sinking ship.

Even so, it's hard to view this announcement as anything short than the end of an era for fighting games at large. Whatever Harada pursues next, it's likely to be outside the reigns of a fighting genre that he once dominated alongside the also-retired Street Fighter head Yoshinori Ono, who left his series just ahead of the smash-hit Street Fighter 6 (2023). But as this King of Iron Fist says in his farewell, he'll share more about his next steps "at a later date" and his experiences with Tekken and its community became the core of who he is "as a developer and game creator".

Image Credit: Kevin Paul via WIkiMedia Commons (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License)