Ex-Tekken Boss Katsuhiro Harada Teases Next Game as a 'Surprise' That Won't Disappoint Fans

Katsuhiro Harada, the former head of the Tekken franchise, is finally pulling back the curtain a bit on his next project at his independent studio, VS Studio.

Harada made waves earlier this year when he departed Bandai Namco after decades as the driving force behind Tekken to establish his own studio. VS Studio, a subsidiary of SNK, has been steadily assembling a team over recent months, bringing on board several key members from Tekken's development crew.

While Harada has kept mostly mum about what VS Studio is working on, he offered some hints about their current projects in a September 2026 interview with VideoGamesChronicle. And it sounds like potentially good news for fans of his past work.

When asked whether VS Studio's next game would be a fighting game or if the studio aims to be 'genre-agnostic,' Harada responded: 'What I can say is that there are some members who I have worked with in the past who have joined the company, but this is purely voluntary.

'...the title that we are creating has not been disclosed, but as I said earlier, I don't want to betray our fans' expectations. The game that we're developing will be some kind of surprise, but rest assured, it is not something that is outside of expectations,' he explained.

While this doesn't confirm anything, it does suggest that Harada is working on something at least somewhat aligned with what fans anticipate—and to us, that sounds a lot like a fighting game. (It's also worth noting that Harada himself expressed a desire to develop a new fighting game in an interview with Den-fami Nico Gamer after VS Studio was first announced.) Whether it's a completely new IP or a new entry in an existing franchise remains to be seen, but SNK's chief publishing officer, Ozan Kocoglu, says VS Studio isn't ruling out either approach.

'I think it can be both. I don't think we should be limited to one road or the other. I think Harada-san can bring a wealth of experience into supporting our existing IPs in growing in a different way, or going to the next stage alongside people like Oda-san. But at the same time, as SNK is growing to become much bigger and a new company, we also need fresh ideas,' he said.

'We also need to build new IP pillars that, you know, he could be working on, so that they can actually enrich the SNK portfolio beyond what we have. I definitely see Harada-san being able to do both, and it will depend on what he wants to do and how, and especially on which IP he could collaborate on with some of our development leads in the future.'

Kocoglu revealed that SNK is in a period of 'aggressive growth,' saying the company needs a 'fresh perspective' to keep moving forward. He also sees 'no reason' why VS Studio should be a 'one-off' for SNK, calling Harada a 'great addition in terms of DNA with what we've been building so far.'

'But do we want to stop at only VS Studio? I don't think that's the idea. I think it's going to be, okay, what are the new opportunities we can find in the market? How do we want to grow as a company? Personally, I think SNK has a strong DNA in action-related games. So anyone who makes an action-related project could potentially join us in the future on a case-by-case basis,' he added.

Harada went on to say that VS Studio has a 'very high level of freedom,' and that while the team can 'create anything we want,' they're still beholden to what fans and players expect of them.

'What I want to protect is what I'm good at, as well as meet the expectations that my fans have. On top of that, I also want to collaborate with SNK. We can share the video game expertise that we have and enhance our strengths for both of us in terms of the ways to create video games. So, focusing on what I'm good at, keeping in mind player expectations as well, and having close collaboration with SNK,' he said.

Harada also opened up about his thoughts on the future of the Tekken franchise now that he's left Bandai Namco, revealing that he's been mentoring existing members of its staff while he works to grow VS Studio.

'I have no knowledge of what Tekken has in store after my departure, so I think it would be great if you could all reach out to Bandai Namco. For now, I can only speculate, like how fans are speculating as well. But one thing I can say is that I have been working hard to mentor the team members of Tekken, and I can guarantee that the members who are still working on it have evolved and grown. So I'm looking forward to the future of Tekken as a fan.'

Tekken 8, it seems, is joining the ranks of other mainline fighting games who are adding wildcard guest characters to their rosters, with Baki's Yujiro Hanma set to join the fight in early 2027. We got the chance to interview Tekken series chief producer Naoya Yasuda about why the team chose this character and how in the world they plan on balancing the game around the 'strongest man on earth' when he finally drops next year.

Image Credits: SIA KAMBOU/AFP via Getty Images