While Tekken 8 launched with a load of features and was another great entry in the franchise, we were still curious what the future holds, and how the Tekken dev team at Bandai Namco planned to address “pluggers” and a few other issues.
Thankfully, we got the chance to talk to the man himself, Katsuhiro Harada! Officially known as the Tekken’s Project Chief Director, Harada is the person to ask about anything Tekken, and ask we did! In our Tekken 8 interview, we ask about the chances of getting free DLC characters, why the studio added the item shop post-launch and a lot more!
Note: The interview was conducted before the February Tekken Talk aired, as such, some of the questions and answers were discussed there. Huge thanks to the Tekken Reddit community for the Q’s!
MP1st: Are there plans to penalize “pluggers?” By this, I mean rage quitting or those who pull the plug to escape a loss in their online record. If there’s a plan to combat this, when is the expected release for it?
Harada: Generally, if a disconnection occurs, the disconnection rate increases. The mechanism of displaying the opponent’s disconnection rate before a match, which allows the user to decline the match, is similar to TEKKEN 7. However, as of March 1st, we found a bug that causes the disconnection rate to not function accurately, and these issues are planned to be improved on in April.
As mentioned in the TEKKEN TALK program in February, severe pluggers will start to be banned from March 2024 onwards. It also has be noted that the issue of a user physically unplugging the LAN cable itself cannot be prevented, and this is not limited to TEKKEN. Additionally, while the unplugged party can be identified, the current situation does not provide 100% proof of identification for the method known as “uplink unplugging” — which is again, not specific to TEKKEN. Therefore, while there might be desire to penalize the unplugging party, if the unplugging party was using a malicious method such as uplink unplugging, it could inadvertently penalize the victim who was disconnected in error. Hence, caution is necessary in this regard.
With that said, strict measures ranging from temporary bans to permanent bans will be applied to reduce the presence of pluggers for players whose disconnection rates reach a certain threshold. We kindly ask for your patience until the ban enforcement begins, albeit not as straightforward. In the gaming industry, legal preparations, including having solid legal grounds in case a banned player files a lawsuit, are needed. This is also a measure demanded by platforms, so it is important to understand that bans are not as risk-free and easy as imagined.
Nevertheless, we plan to execute a significant number of bans soon.
MP1st: Is there a chance for Team Battle to make a comeback?
Harada: That depends if there’s demand for it. We’ve been conducting user surveys at considerable cost since the offline era of fighting games. Since the move to online, we’ve been analysing all kinds of data statistically.
While I’m sure that many have played the Team Battle mode with friends and family and have good memories associated with it, we found that it wasn’t played by players as much as the community might think.
The Team Battle mode in TEKKEN 2 was played the most, but as the series progressed, it became less and less chosen. If the mode were to make a comeback, people might play it nostalgically for the first few times. However, when looked at from the perspective of the entire player base, many players will call for different content to be added instead of a mode that is not demanded for. Moreover, in the modern age, adding such modes is not as cheap and easy as it previously was, and involves significant debugging costs and more.
All in all, the demand for the Team Battle mode has been low, and demand for it hardly accumulates. Some may say on social media sites that they want it, and while there may be anecdotal evidence to support the demand, what is crucial is the quantitative data. As such, we’d need to direct our efforts where there’s a more significant demand, as our time, resources, and development budget are not infinite.
MP1st: Are there any plans to add endless/ghost battle mode?
Harada: The Super Ghost Battle in TEKKEN 8 has received a tremendous response and positive reviews, so there is a possibility for expansion in the future depending on further player responses.
MP1st: Why didn’t we get a Mokujin-type character or is that part for future character rollouts?
Harada: During the development stage, we had to consider the usage rate and popularity of each character and as such, have excluded Mokujin from the current rollout. User needs are constantly changing with the times, and we’d have to adapt and do the same in order to stay relevant.
MP1st: Are there plans to expand the Fight Lounge?
Harada: Yes, do stay tuned for updates.
MP1st: Why was Akuma omitted from the line up? Is it due to a licensing issue?
Harada: Akuma was never part of the starting roster as he’s not originally a character from TEKKEN, nor is he a default character.
MP1st: Any plans on allowing different characters to be displayed on the home screen instead of just Kazuya?
Harada: In February’s TEKKEN Talk, we had shown the upcoming DLC character, Eddy Gordo, displayed on the homescreen instead of Kazuya. For more details, please refer to the video.
MP1st: Why was the in-game shop added post-launch?
Harada: It’s necessary to have a store in order to provide various additional contents after the game’s release. However, in the lead-up to the game’s launch, we were focused on packing as much content into the game as possible; and as you may know, TEKKEN 8 has been widely recognised for featuring more content than other competing titles at the time of release.
As a result, we chose to address and include the store as well as other additional elements after the game’s release.
MP1st: Will characters added as DLCs have their own character episodes?
Harada: As mentioned in February’s TEKKEN TALK, we’re looking into updating the game’s story around the characters that will be added into the game. We thought it’d be pointless to restrict the story episodes of new characters to only the users who have bought them, so we’re planning to add such episodes as a free addition to whomever that owns the game.
Please refer to the video for further details.
MP1st: Is the development team looking into netcode refinement?
Harada: The development team is constantly making improvements, not only to the netcode but also to other aspects of the game. Please stay tuned for more updates.
MP1st: Any chance of getting an accessibility option to increase the text size in the U.I. of the game on consoles?
Harada: This is possible, but will depend if there is a demand for it.
MP1st: Is there a chance we’ll get free fighters as DLC?
Harada: Characters are the most costly content to develop, but in terms of potential, we might consider further down the road. Please stay tuned for updates.
MP1st: Are there any plans to add voice chat in the future in online matches?
Harada: If there is a high demand for such a feature, it might be implemented in the future. However, the development team would have to keep in mind that such an implementation comes with both merits and demerits.
Tekken 8 is available now on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. You can read our review of the game here.
We’d like to thank Bandai Namco Entertainment Asia for taking time out of their schedule to coordinate the interview