Tekken Boss Announces Retirement After 30 Years In The Most Harada...

Katsuhrio Harada—one of the driving forces behind Tekken and the series head honcho for the last 20 years—is hanging up his fighting gloves at the end of this year.

He announced his retirement in a lengthy X post, saying that 2025 would be his final year at Bandai Namco and as the project leader on Tekken. "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," he wrote.

A good chunk of the post is dedicated to his interactions with the community over the last three decades. "My roots lie in the days when I supported small local tournaments in Japanese arcades and in small halls and community centres overseas," he said. "I still remember carrying arcade cabinets by myself, encouraging people to 'Please try Tekken,' and directly facing the players right in front of me."

Harada said that those experiences "became the core of who I am as a developer and game creator," something which continued even as both Tekken and the FGC at large grew bigger. "Many of you continued to treat me like an old friend—challenging me at venues, inviting me out for drinks at bars," he wrote. "Those memories are deeply precious to me."

I’d like to share that I’ll be leaving Bandai Namco at the end of 2025.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.My roots lie…December 8, 2025

As for his retirement, he wrote that numerous factors are at play—the loss of "several close personal friends" and witnessing "the retirement or passing of many senior colleagues whom I deeply respect."

I can only assume one of the people Harada is talking about is Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki, who passed away in October at the age of 58. At the time, Harada posted to X, saying: "To think that he's gone at just 58 years old… Yes, everyone dies eventually… that's inevitable. But you… isn't it a bit too soon?"

Apparently, Harada even went to former PlayStation boss Ken Kutaragi for advice, writing that "His words quietly supported me in making this decision."

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His post continues to say that he's been in the business of slowly handing off responsibilities for half a decade now, concluding: "Each project was f

Source: PC Gamer