{"id":9963,"date":"2026-06-01T12:06:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T09:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/?p=9963"},"modified":"2026-06-01T19:56:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T16:26:16","slug":"hot-on-the-heels-of-katsuhiro-haradas-exit-from-bandai-namco-the-director-of-tekken-7-and-8-has-left-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/hot-on-the-heels-of-katsuhiro-haradas-exit-from-bandai-namco-the-director-of-tekken-7-and-8-has-left-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Hot on the Heels of Katsuhiro Harada&#8217;s Exit From Bandai Namco, the Director of Tekken 7 and 8 Has Left Too"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Kohei &#8216;Nakatsu&#8217; Ikeda, game director on Tekken 7 and 8, has left Bandai Namco after 20 years at the company.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">His exit comes hot on the heels of Tekken legend Katsuhiro Harada\u2019s exit to form a new video game company.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cThere were joyful moments, and many difficult ones as well,\u201d Ikeda said in a farewell message posted on social media. \u201cThere were times when we celebrated together, and times when I received passionate criticism and encouragement. Yet every one of those moments helped push both myself and the Tekken Project forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">The 10 Best Fighting Games<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\">&lt;img alt=&quot;Fighting games have a special place in both the past and present of gaming. It\u2019s a genre that requires quick thinking, twitch reflexes, and vast amounts of knowledge of both yourself and your opponent\u2019s options to play at a high level. It can often seem intimidating. But some of the most recognizable series in pop culture, such as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, belong to that same genre. <\/p>\n<p>So for our deliberations in assembling this list, we\u2019ve laid out some special criteria: we\u2019ve excluded platform fighters such as the Smash Bros series as that\u2019s important enough to be a list on its own; we only have one game representing each series, and while legacy can play a big part, they must offer robust mechanics and still be fun to play today. Here\u2019s our list of the top 10 fighting games.&#8221; decoding=&#8221;async&#8221; class=&#8221;progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity&#8221; loading=&#8221;lazy&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/hot-on-the-heels-of-katsuhiro-haradas-exit-from-bandai-namco-the-director-of-tekken-7-and-8-has-left-too.gif&#8221; data-cy=&#8221;progressive-image&#8221;&gt;<span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3381835873 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\"><\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Ikeda didn\u2019t say what he plans to do next, but most fans are speculating that he is set to rejoin Harada at his new venture, VS Studio, which has partnered with SNK Corporation.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The Tekken community is now left wondering what\u2019s in store for the fighting game franchise. Just last week Bandai Namco delighted fans by announcing Yujiro Hanma from the Baki manga and anime franchise as the guest character of the Tekken 8 Season 3 Pass, which ends early 2027 with his arrival. But with both Harada and now Ikeda out of Bandai Namco, will fans get a Tekken 9? If so, what might it look like?<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Certainly, Tekken fans have had a rough relationship with Bandai Namco in recent years, criticising various aspects of the game and balance changes. Harada has spoken publicly about his difficult relationship with both the Tekken franchise and Bandai Namco, stepping in multiple times on social media to respond to fan concern, including the time he addressed a row over the sale of premium stage DLC. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cMakes me worried about the fate of Tekken 9,\u201d said one concerned fan, responding to Ikeda\u2019s departure. \u201cThe franchise might have to take a bit of a break after this game,\u201d another suggested. \u201cThis game has definitely been a nightmare for developers AND players.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Bandai Namco itself has yet to say what\u2019s in store for Tekken beyond Tekken 8 Season 3.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/hot-on-the-heels-of-katsuhiro-haradas-exit-from-bandai-namco-the-director-of-tekken-7-and-8-has-left-too.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/hot-on-the-heels-of-katsuhiro-haradas-exit-from-bandai-namco-the-director-of-tekken-7-and-8-has-left-too.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/hot-on-the-heels-of-katsuhiro-haradas-exit-from-bandai-namco-the-director-of-tekken-7-and-8-has-left-too.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/hot-on-the-heels-of-katsuhiro-haradas-exit-from-bandai-namco-the-director-of-tekken-7-and-8-has-left-too.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-9963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-49","tag-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9963"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9965,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9963\/revisions\/9965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}