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Tekken has a cult status worldwide as a gaming franchise, popular for its legendary gaming experience and plot.
It is the second-best-selling fighting game franchise with more than 49 million sales, just behind Mario Kart. Tekken 7 released almost 5 years ago and gamers are waiting with bated breath for the Tekken 8 release date announcement.
Although, it did not receive as much love and recognition as its earlier installments as creators expected. We hope the franchise will redeem itself by releasing Tekken 8 with a better story and innovative experience.
So, what’s the latest on Tekken 8 so far?
We have collected every news and rumor related to the Tekken 8 release date and game trailer.
A Brief History About Tekken
Tekken is an epic fighting game crafted to perfection by renowned gaming house Bandai Namco Entertainment. This is the home of legendary games such as Dragon Ball Z, Pacman, and much more.
The first-ever Tekken was released in 1994, and Tekken 7 is the last released installment of the game. The company releases season passes that add new moves, characters, and updates for the game frequently.
Tekken can be played on the most popular consoles like Playstation, Xbox, etc., and is mainly praised for its gripping story.
The gameplay of Tekken is similar to most fighting games, selecting a character to engage in hand to hand combat with an opponent. Every installment of Tekken had a new feature and is waited for with bated breath.
Unlike other games, in Tekken, you can control all 4 limbs of the fighter. Initially, you had to manually block the attacks but Tekken 2 introduced auto-blocking.
In Tekken 3, fighters could sidestep into the foreground and background. Tekken 4 brought increased mobility by adding 3D movement inside geometrically complex areas.
Tekken 5 was a mixture of walled and infinite arenas for fighters. While the Tekken 6 introduced the rage mode, where fighters earned damage multiplier when they are on the brink of dying.
The 7th installment added new movements to fighters that made the game more interesting.
Tekken 7 Recap
Please refrain yourself from reading this if you have not completed Tekken 7 as it contains spoilers.
The conglomerate Mishima Zaibatsu had started the war to awaken Azazel, a monster that feeds on the negative emotions of people and grows in power.
We learn that the war was Jin Kazama’s plan to draw out the monster and defeat it. Jin battles Azazel but during the battle, there is a large explosion, and Jin goes missing.
Heihachi Mishima takes advantage of the situation and becomes the leader of Zaibatsu. He then announces the 7th Iron Fist Tournament.
In the meantime, Akuma, the master of fists, is obsessed with killing Heihachi and his son Kazuya to fulfill the oath made to Kazumi Mishima. Akuma almost kills Heihachi and proceeds towards his next target Kazuya.
The eternal opportunist Heihachi believes that his son will activate the devil form to defeat the powerful Akuma. Heihachi plans to show the true nature of his son to everyone to gain their trust.
Heihachi decides to blow up the building where the battle is going on, to end all his troubles. Unfortunately for him, Kazuya survives and challenges his father for a final battle.
After the intense battle between father and son, Kazuya wins the battle and throws Heihachi in the lava river. Jin, who was allegedly missing, has recovered and vows to finish Kazuya.
If you want the complete story check out the retro rendition of the Tekken story created by Bandai Namco Entertainment America below.
Do We Have A Release Date For Tekken 8?
Tekken 7 came in 2015 and it’s about time they released the next installment. Unfortunately, there is no official confirmation regarding the release date. Many websites claim to have gotten a scoop about the Tekken 8 release date but it’s all fake.
Enter any of these websites and you will be redirected to an ad trafficking portal. Another website went too far, it claimed that it had the Tekken 8 game! Although it was fake, we decided to check it out and learned that it was a cleverly disguised Tekken 7.
Let us look at some patterns followed by Tekken. Tekken 6 launched in 2007 in arcades and it was ported for the PlayStation Portable in 2009.
Tekken 7 was launched 6 years after launching the earlier installment to PSP. Tekken 7 had a Playstation release 2 years later.
A similar pattern was followed for earlier Tekken installments. So, we can predict that the release date for Tekken 8 might be somewhere around 2021.
Covid-19 has stalled the launch of many games and Tekken might be going through a similar phase.
Is There A Trailer For Tekken 8?
Tekken 7 had one of the most satisfying endings in the franchise. The secret ending got everyone hyped up about the next installment. So, are there any new trailers/teasers of Tekken 8?
No, there are no official trailers/teasers as of now. Although many fan-made trailers are floating around on Youtube and most of them will thrill you.
Here is the 7th installment ending with the after-credits scene. This is the scene that got everyone thinking about Tekken 8.
In the after-credits scene, we see a world in chaos with characters Lars Alexandersson, Lee Chaolan, and Alisa Bosconovitch talking about it.
They tell Jin that the world has engulfed into darkness after Heihachi’s demise. They ask Jin to finish what he started. Jin unleashes his devil gene and vows to kill Kazuya and end the war.
What is the Latest News About Tekken 8?
Great news! Bandai Namco has just-announced season 4 for Tekken 7. Check out the trailer here.
Season 4 promises better battle balance and new moves for all characters. There are also online play enhancements to improve the online gaming experience.
They have also added prowess for each character and it releases in the fall of 2020. This is a great thing for fans. They can now focus on improving their desired characters and get ready for Tekken 8.
Now, coming to the sad part of the news. In August 2019, we received the heartbreaking news that Unsho Ishizuka, the voice actor for Heihachi is no more.
Many players expressed condolences on social media networks and remembered his contribution to the game. Unsho Ishizuka was also the voice behind the beloved Professor Oak of Pokemon fame. He also voiced the showboat Mr.Satan in the Dragonball franchise.
More news from Tekken, Bandai Namco has canceled its 2020 circuits for Tekken 7 in response to the pandemic.
They will create online events to make up for the competition. Tekken 7 director Katsuhiro Harada has confirmed that Kazuma Kiryu will join the cast of Tekken 7.
Katsuhiro Harada, who juggled multiple roles in the Tekken franchise, is now the general manager of the game. 25 years of service with Tekken and varying job titles ranging from voice acting to executive producer, makes him the face of the brand. He is also the leader of the Bandai Namco esports strategy team.
Michael Murray, who joined Tekken from the 4th installment, slowly made his way to the lead designer of Tekken 6. He is now promoted as the main producer of the game.
He will oversee everything related to Tekken including merchandising. This is a very hard part for fans as Michael Murray has less experience in Tekken compared to Harada. Only time can tell whether this move is right on the money or downright disaster.
What Are Rumors and Speculations Regarding Tekken 8?
Tekken 7 received an apathetic response from fans. The story was praised yet some fans did not find it riveting and trounced it for having less innovation and imagination.
Hence, Tekken 8 has a lot of ground to cover. The franchise has completed 25 years, it was bound to reach its limit sooner or later.
Many movies, TV shows, and games that run for a longer period of time suffer from maintaining excitement among fans. Remember the game Prince of Persia? The stage was set for the Sands of Time, a reboot that attained cult status in a short time and was expected to open the door for an interesting sequel.
Unfortunately, the creators of Prince of Persia offered us a dry sequel that was much better than other ones. It is not easy to maintain consistency, Tekken managed to do it most of the time.
Tekken even took in the comments of its players in forums and came out with exciting updates. However, the 7th installment failed to do that. It was on the verge of causing irreparable damage but developers swooped in and fixed those things with an emergency patch.
What Can Tekken Fans Expect?
Tekken 7 finally gave fans a look at the true potential of the devil gene. Jin Kazama earlier had trouble controlling the form but now he can do it. This opens up the opportunity of having an epic battle against Jin in Tekken 8.
Now that it is established that Jin, Akuma, and Kazuya are highly powerful, a clash between these titans is definitely on the cards. The story in previous installments was highly appreciated and fans expect a similar turnout from the franchise.
One of the criticisms of Tekken 7 was that some of the characters were completely neglected and had no relevance. We hope that each character gets a proper story chapter and new moves are always welcome.
We can’t dodge Leroy Smith’s topic, the character that almost ruined Tekken. Leroy Smith was launched as a powerful character in the game with just one problem, he was overpowered.
Gamers started to complain that they were at a disadvantage while facing Leroy. In EVO Japan 2020, the top 8 characters had 6 Leroys, and developers realized that they had to fix it. Tekken decided to drop him in the season 3 patch and the numbers started increasing. Fans expect no such goof-ups from the company again.
Some fans want Heihachi to survive the lava river and gain devil genes like his son. Heihachi was one of the most ruthless characters in the game.
He threw his son off the cliff to make him face similar ordeals as he did. He murdered his wife and betrayed his father to gain leadership over Zaibatsu. He was the reason behind turning Kazuya into a negative character.
Kazuya was no less than his father, performing genetic manipulation of animals, and having his critics assassinated. In the 4th installment, it is disclosed that Kazuya was evil at his own will.
Tekken ensured that the main characters in the game have a proper character story. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the same case with other important characters. For example, Claudio was important but he was mostly irrelevant to the plot, and the franchise focussed elsewhere.
Final Thought
There you have it. We have covered all the news, rumors, release date, and trailers regarding Tekken 8. Although the story of the 7th installment received a lukewarm response, the ending has a separate fan base. It was brilliantly crafted and we will end this with our favorite moment of the game-ending scene.
Spoilers again! Still recovering from a headbutt from his father, Kazuma has a blurry vision. He looks at his father, Heihachi once again. He doesn’t see his father anymore but instead a man who killed his mother and beloved grandfather. He remembers that Heihachi abused him as a child, threw him off a cliff, and is the reason behind him turning out like that. The background music that is perfectly crafted for this makes this scene even more awesome.
There is hope in the darkness, the 4th season for Tekken 7 has been announced. So, expect Tekken 8 to be released sooner rather than later.
