Katsuhiro Harada Is Back Making Video Games Under SNK With A New Subsidiary Called VS Studio

Katsuhiro Harada shared notice that he was leaving Bandai Namco and retiring from Tekken Project at the start of 2026. Today, Harada has announced his return to the video game industry.

SNK has announced the launch of VS Studio, to be led by Katsuhiro Harada. While SNK is headquartered in Osaka, VS Studio will be based in Tokyo.

VS Studio will be established as a consolidated subsidiary. Harada and his team will be free to run it on their own, but they will be part of SNK’s record books.

Harada is of course most famous for his involvement in Tekken Project for three decades, spending most of that time in charge of the franchise. He also built a resume managing other Bandai Namco projects in the last decade, including working with Nintendo.

Of course, Harada is a high commodity in the industry, and we’re looking forward to what we hope will be huge new titles from him in the future. Interestingly, Harada managed to secure an exit without a non-compete clause.