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Katsuhiro Harada announced on X (formerly Twitter) that he is resigning from his position at Bandai Namco and will be leaving the company, and it appears that this is the final selection for his term as Tekken’s chief producer and game director.
In a post on December 8, 2025, coincidentally the last day of Tekken’s 30th anniversary, Harada announced the following.
“I would like to inform you that I will be retiring from Bandai Namco at the end of 2025.
As the Tekken series celebrates its 30th anniversary, this is an important milestone for a project that I have dedicated so much of my life to, and this felt like the most fitting moment to end a chapter. ”
Harada has been a mainstay of the Tekken series since its early days, working in Namco’s arcade business and voicing the characters Marshall Law and Yoshimitsu before taking the director’s seat with Tekken 3. From here he continued to contribute to the growth and expansion of the franchise, taking on a general manager position within Bandai Namco while overseeing the Tekken project.
“Looking back, I have been fortunate to have been able to work on a wide variety of projects both inside and outside the company, including VR titles (such as Summer Lessons), Pokkén Tournament, and the Soul Calibur series.”
Tekken’s latest installment, Tekken 8, became the first mainline game not to be released in arcades prior to launch due to COVID-19 and the changing situation in the Japanese arcade scene. “Tekken 8” surpassed 3 million copies sold faster than its predecessor, “Tekken 7.”
Interestingly, Harada was extensively involved with the Tekken community on X (formerly Twitter), leading to his famous catchphrase, “Don’t listen to the crap!” When he was cornered by fans for not including features and characters in Tekken. Initially stemming from complaints to fans about his rude behavior, this became incorporated into his appearances, such as wearing the shirt during Tekken Talk and quoting it at the Game Awards, where Tekken 8 won an award.
Harada will continue to appear as a special guest at the 2026 TWT World Finals. It will definitely be interesting to see what this franchise does next without a strongman like Harada at the helm. You can read Harada’s presentation in full here.
