Don’t expect any guest characters like Noctis or Akuma to pop up in a shiny new Tekken 8 trailer any time soon. According to Harada on Twitter, the team are focused on the other core Tekken characters for now.
This came in response to a request from a user, who asked the director of Bandai Namco’s revered fighting game series for Leon Kennedy and Albert Wesker of Resident Evil fame to be brought into the game. Harada, a man notorious for asking fans not to ask him for shit, responded nonetheless. The user would later make his account private to escape the spotlight.
“There is a character that should be made before the guest character, so please forget about the guest character for now.” Harada responded, candid and to-the-point. The game isn’t even out yet guys, only having recently been played in early alpha tests on physical setups. The central cast of, y’know, Tekken characters aren’t ready yet.
This is not the first time some guy with a Twitter account and a dream has messaged Harada asking for a laundry list of characters they’d like to see. This has yet to work of course, but it doesn’t stop people from trying. You can see similar breeds of stoner reply to Ed Boon posts with Mortal Kombat requests, and it was a common sight back when Smash Bros: Ultimate was still pushing out DLC characters on the regular.
But to give them some slack, this behavior is trained in Tekken fans to a degree, as it was in Smash and Mortal Kombat. Guest characters in recent memory have been a surefire way to generate hype and DLC sales for developers, allowing players to see a pop culture icon or even a character from another fighting game make a cheeky cameo. Part of the reason this has proved popular in fighting games is because it keeps fans guessing what could possibly come next, and praying for their own faves.
Tekken 7 reveled in this strategy, slotting in exciting guest DLC characters like Noctis from Final Fantasy 15, Negan from The Walking Dead, Geese Howard from King of Fighters and more. These are great at bringing in waves of new players, even if occasionally the OGs have mixed opinions. You can be sure that guest characters played a part in Tekken 7’s huge sales figures.
But the thing is, these came post launch! Some out there will point to Akuma as a launch character, but that isn’t true! Tekken 7 released in arcades with a pure Tekken cast a whole year before Tekken 7: Fated Retribution came out and Satsui No Hado’d our consoles. You’ve got to get the Tekken characters in there first, then you can have a bit of fun.
Don’t dismay though, as if you’ve read Harada’s words you’ll see that guest characters are by no means off the table. Why would they be? They are just not the priority right now. So chill out, have a bit of patience, and keep those fingers crossed.
If you’re looking for some more Tekken 8 info, you should know that a beta and crossplay should be on the way at some point in the future! With the ongoing updates we’re getting on Tekken 8, as well as the variety of other fighting games, it’s looking like a great era for the genre.
