Good news for fighting games enthusiasts: Tekken 8 could release sooner than expected. During Bandai Namco’s latest earnings call, the publisher shared its desire to release Tekken 8 before the end of the 2023 fiscal year.
Tekken 8 is one of the most anticipated fighting games to release in 2023, alongside the popular Street Fighter 6. Bandai Namco teased a new Tekken game back in August, showing a glimpse of a modern version of Kazuya after the Tekken 7 Grand Finals at EVO 2022. Since then, the publisher shared more news about Tekken 8, revealing the new features coming to the game. Despite not showing a single frame of gameplay, Bandai Namco managed to build expectations for Tekken 8 even if Street Fighter 6 stole the highlight with its open beta last month.
During its latest earnings call, Bandai Namco shared more information about Tekken 8. An investor asked the company about their upcoming releases for 2023, to which Bandai Namco answered that “we are planning a large number of projects”. The publisher then added that “Tekken 8 is also under development with the aim of launching in fiscal 2023 or later.”
As fiscal years are different than calendar years, this means Tekken 8 could release sometime between March 31, 2023, and March 31, 2024. If this release window is quite vague, Bandai Namco should release more information about Tekken 8 in the upcoming months. The publisher revealed very little information about their upcoming fighting game so far. The trailer only showed two characters who will most likely join Tekken 8’s roster: Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima. Other popular characters could possibly return, such as Yoshimitsu, Paul Phoenix, Steve Fox, Nina Williams, Hwoarang, or Ling Xiaoyu.
According to Tekken 8’s official website, this new entry in the series will focus on the father-and-son showdown between Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama. Back in the first Tekken game released in 1994, 5-year-old Kazuya Mishima discovered his father killed his mother. He tried to confront him, but his father won the battle and threw the boy off a cliff. Kazuya survived, and years later managed to defeat his father. After the battle, Kazuya picks up his father’s broken body to throw him off the same cliff, with a satisfying grin on his face as he finally got his revenge. The first trailer for Tekken 8 brings back the same scene, hinting at a new confrontation between the new generation of characters from the fighting game series.
Tekken 8 will release sometime between March 31, 2023, and March 31, 2024. The game will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Microsoft Windows.
