Tekken Producer Is Leaving Bandai Namco after 31 Years of Work on Series
He will release a DJ-style Tekken mix.
Bandai Namco
Tekken is a legendary fighter in the game industry, but today, it is losing one of its key creators: its director and producer Katsuhiro Harada announced that he'd be leaving Bandai Namco at the end of 2025, after 31 years there.
"My roots lie in the days when I supported small local tournaments in Japanese arcades and in small halls and community centers overseas. I still remember carrying arcade cabinets by myself, encouraging people to 'Please try TEKKEN,' and directly facing the players right in front of me. The conversations and atmosphere we shared in those places became the core of who I am as a developer and game creator."
Sia Kambou
He shared that in recent years, he lost several close friends and witnessed the retirement or passing of many senior colleagues, which made him reflect on the time he has left as a creator. Encouraged by Ken Kutaragi, "the Father of the PlayStation," he decided to move on from his long-held post.
"Looking back, I was fortunate to work on an extraordinary variety of projects – VR titles (such as Summer Lesson), Pokkén Tournament, the SoulCalibur series, and many others, both inside and outside the company."
But it's not the last time you hear from Harada: he will appear at the Tekken World Tour Finals at the end of January as a guest. He also released – "for the first and last time" – a 60-minute Tekken DJ mix.
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