Tekken 8 Director Kohei Ikeda Joins Harada’s New VS Studio
Kohei Ikeda, who served as game director on Tekken 8, has left Bandai Namco and joined VS Studio, the new SNK-backed developer led by longtime Tekken figure Katsuhiro Harada. The move reunites Ikeda with Harada and fellow Tekken veteran Yuichi Yonemori, putting three senior developers from the series under the same roof as VS Studio prepares its first project.
Ikeda confirmed the move on X, where he also said he had left the Tekken 8 team at Bandai Namco. In his post, Ikeda described the change as a new phase in his career and spoke directly about working again with familiar collaborators.
“I've joined VS Studio as the next step in my journey,” Ikeda wrote on X. “Working on games again with two of my former bosses feels nostalgic in many ways, while at the same time, the excitement of creating something completely new makes every day incredibly fulfilling. I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can create together!”
The appointment brings together a notable group of Tekken developers. Harada left Bandai Namco in December after decades as one of the public faces of the franchise. Yonemori, another veteran of the series, departed earlier this year in May. With Ikeda now making the same move, VS Studio has assembled a leadership group with deep experience in 3D fighting games.
That experience makes the studio’s debut game a point of immediate interest. No title or genre has been announced, and VS Studio has not confirmed what the team is building. Given the backgrounds of Harada, Ikeda, and Yonemori, speculation around a one-on-one fighting game is inevitable, but there is no official word yet on whether the studio’s first release will follow that path.
VS Studio was announced in May as a new developer backed financially by SNK, the company behind series including The King of Fighters and Metal Slug. At the time, Harada said the studio’s goal was to “combine technology, sensibility, and world-class expertise.” That mission statement now carries extra weight, because the addition of Ikeda strengthens the sense that VS Studio is being built around senior talent with long ties to one of the genre’s biggest franchises.
For Bandai Namco, Ikeda’s departure adds to a visible stretch of turnover around Tekken 8’s senior ranks. The game remains one of the most prominent fighting titles on the market, but several key names associated with the franchise have now moved on within a relatively short period.
For VS Studio, the picture is clearer than the project itself. The studio has gathered experienced leadership from Tekken, secured SNK support, and started forming an identity around veteran fighting game talent. The remaining question is what that team plans to make first, and when it will be ready to show it.
