Tekken development chief Katsuhiro Harada has announced that he’ll be departing from the fighting game series and its publisher Bandai Namco at the end of 2025. Harada–who has worked on every Tekken game since the series first debuted in 1994–said in a social media post that the death of close friends in his life had led to him to consider how much time he had left as a creator, and after consulting PlayStation icon Ken Kutaragi, he decided to leave the publisher after spending 30 years working on the Tekken franchise.

“With the Tekken series reaching its 30th anniversary–an important milestone for a project I’ve devoted much of my life to–I felt this was the most fitting moment to bring one chapter to a close,” Harada wrote in an online post. “In recent years, I experienced the loss of several close friends in my personal life, and in my professional life I witnessed the retirement or passing of many senior colleagues whom I deeply respect. Those accumulated events made me reflect on the ‘time I have left as a creator.’ During that period, I sought advice from Ken Kutaragi–whom I respect as though he were another father–and received invaluable encouragement and guidance. His words quietly supported me in making this decision.”

Harada added that he’d been gradually preparing the Tekken team for his departure, and he was grateful to have worked on the series and on several other games, such as Pokken Tournament and SoulCalibur. While Harada is leaving Bandai Namco, he mentioned he would share his next steps at a later date. In a separate post, Bandai Namco said it remains committed to future development and content for Tekken 8 and expressed gratitude to Harada for his decades of work.

Despite a strong launch and 3 million sales in its first year, Tekken 8 has faced an uphill struggle throughout 2025. Longtime fans have received recent gameplay updates, and character changes have been poorly received. Many players have also criticized the game’s microtransaction system.