Tekken 8 Developer: "Negativity Can Seem Bigger Than It Is"
Developer Perspective at EVO
At EVO, Tekken team members—including Katsuhiro Harada, Kohei "Nakatsu" Ikeda, and Michael Murray—spoke with GameSpot about the Season 2 backlash. Despite strong sales, many competitive players voiced frustration over Season 2’s shifts in character design and gameplay.GameSpot+1
Armor King’s Triumphant Return
One highlight from the discussion was the reveal of Armor King, a classic character returning with a brand-new stance called Bad Jaguar. His offense-oriented style even allows the stage floor to crumble during his Rage Art—a nostalgic callback that underscores the team’s attention to legacy details.GameSpot+1
Managing Vocal Feedback
Harada acknowledged how social media amplifies criticism:
“Social media is actually a good way to collect information for Tekken development... I try not to think too much about negative engagement farming... I take the data and try to get to what they're saying… What represents most of our gaming population? What would make the most people happy?”GameSpot+1
He and his team aim to balance feedback from hardcore fans seeking editorial continuity with new players drawn to Tekken 8’s fresh systems. Attendance at live events like EVO and Comic-Con helps them gauge nuanced sentiment beyond online noise.GameSpot+1
Broader Context: Is the Backlash Warranted?
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Steam Review Bombing: Season 2’s aggressive gameplay direction tanked Tekken 8’s Steam rating—only 14% positive in the last 30 days. Director Harada admitted there’s a "disconnect between what the community wants and the tuning results."PC Gamer
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Backlash and Balance Crisis: Fans criticized unbalanced changes—like overpowered combos and unblockable moves—leading to review bombing on Steam, developer restructuring, and professional players returning to Tekken Tag Tournament 2.Diario AS
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DLC Discontent: The addition of Fahkumram, along with Armor King, did little to soothe frustrations. Fans perceived the DLC as recycled content, criticizing gameplay mechanics such as forced 50/50 situations and diminished defensive options.Polygon+1