Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada announces departure from Bandai Namco, fans share gratitude

After working with the company for 30 long years, Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada has confirmed that he will be leaving the studio by the end of 2025. He announced the news on his official social media account on X, in a heartfelt message aimed at fans, thanking them for their support.

Interestingly, this comes after Harada assured fans earlier this year that he had no plans to resign. Here are the full details.

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Harada cites personal experiences as the reason for his departure from Bandai Namco

Harada also worked on non-Tekken projects like Pokken Tournament and even non-fighting game titles under Bandai Namco (Image via Nintendo)

While initially assuring fans at the start of the year that he wasn't going anywhere, Harada has revealed that the loss of several close friends, as well as the retirements and passing of colleagues, made him take this step. He had been contemplating the right time to announce his departure for a while now, and now seems to have found it.

Synonymous with Bandai Namco's beloved fighting game franchise, Tekken, the 55-year-old industry veteran has worked on the series as a producer and director for 30 long years. Over the course of the decades, he has been involved in countless fighting game-related projects at the Japanese game studio.

This includes all entries in the Tekken series, including non-numbered entries such as Tag Tournament, as well as spin-offs like Pokken Tournament. Other works include his role as supervisor on Bandai Namco projects such as Project X Zone, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, and Tales of Arise.

He was also involved with the latest series entry, Tekken 8, though it has received mixed responses from fans due to monetization and gameplay balance issues. Citing a mismatch of vision between the development team and the publisher side of things, Harada had previously found himself in the crossfire while trying to smooth things over.

As expected, fans across the globe who have stuck by the Tekken series all these years have warm, tear-jerking reactions under his post:

One user expresses gratitude for introducing them to Tekken, which resulted in them establishing lasting relationships with newfound friends in their childhood:

"Thank you for making our childhood awesome! I grew up with Tekken and formed many lasting friendships because of it. I can't wait to see what you do next."

Others view him as a celebrity for his hard work and passion towards both the series and fans:

"Tekken was the best thing happened to me, and when I got to know that you're the director and you decide everything, you were always a celebrity. I hope you have your best retirement time and enjoy a lot around the world and still watch us players enjoying what you provided us."

One user expresses how monumental Tekken has been for them, so much so that they eventually got into competing in local tourneys:

"from casual button mashing in t3 and t4, to learning my first combos in t5. loving combos in t6 and tag 2 to finally going to locals in t7, thank you so much for all you've done for the game <3"

Another user is seemingly distraught at this revelation, as this means no more crossover projects with Harda at the helm:

"NOOOOO MY ONE STRAND OF HOPE FOR TEKKEN X STREET FIGHTER WAS FINALLY SEVERED!!!"

One user expresses hope that this was just a departure from Bandai Namco and not a retirement from game development as a whole:

"Harada-san, nooo! Jokes aside, thank you for everything you've done! We'll keep Tekken going for you. But leaving Bandai Namco doesn't mean you're retiring, right boss?"

That said, fans can expect Harada to hang around a little longer as he will be making an appearance at the Tekken World Tour finals in 2026 as a guest. What will his absence mean for the Tekken franchise moving forward? That remains unclear; however, Harada aims to share details about his future plans with fans when the time is right.