After 30 years, Tekken director announces departure from Bandai Namco. Katsuhiro Harada releases a DJ mix as a farewell gift

Today, the longtime director and producer at Bandai Namco Entertainment, Katsuhiro Harada, announced that after 30 years working on the Tekken series, he will be retiring. But in the message shared on social media, there is one final parting gift. Harada released a 60-minute Tekken DJ mix and promised to make one final appearance at the Tekken World Tour Finals this January. Harada reflected on a long career in video games and promised to “share more about my next steps at a later date,” so Harada may not be done with video games altogether.

Katsuhiro Harada, the producer and director behind 30 years of Tekken, announces he is leaving Bandai Namco

The Tekken series has been ongoing since 1994, when it began as an arcade game. Harada reflects on this in his statement today, remembering “carrying arcade cabinets all by myself, encouraging people to ‘Please try TEKKEN,’ and directly facing the players in front of me.” Harada worked mostly on Tekken, but also mentions working on the Pokémon fighting game Pokkén Tournament, the Soul Calibur series, and some VR titles over the years. Last year, at the Game Awards, the latest game in the Tekken series, Tekken 8, won Best Fighting Game, which is an incredible amount of staying power considering the series has been around for 30 years.

Katsuhiro Harada announces departure.Source: Twitter / X

Harada explains that “…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.’” Apparently, Harada spoke about this with the Father of the PlayStation, Ken Kutaragi, and received invaluable encouragement and guidance,” which helped lead to this decision.

While the legendary Tekken producer did not get to realize his dream of performing his DJ set live, a 58-minute set was uploaded to Soundcloud. At the time of writing, the set has been uploaded for only 10 hours, but already has 20,000 listens and nearly 400 comments praising Harada’s work not only on this mix but also on his many years working at Tekken and Bandai Namco.

Even if this is the end of Harada’s time at Bandai Namco, it may not be the last thing he does in video games. At the end of his statement today, but ahead of the post script, sharing the Soundcloud DJ mix and announcing his attendance at the Tekken World Tour Finals, Harada wrote, “To everyone who has supported me, to communities around the world, and to all my colleagues who have walked alongside me for so many years, I offer my deepest gratitude. I’ll share more about my next steps at a later date.” Currently, there’s no telling what those next steps will be, but perhaps Harada has plans to continue working on a fighting game elsewhere in the industry.

Tekken 8

January 26, 2024

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• fighting games
• Tekken (franchise)
• Bandai Namco Entertainment
• Katsuhiro Harada