Katsuhiro Harada, the vocal head that’s been leading the Tekken series, announced he will be leaving Bandai Namco by the end of 2025.
“With the TEKKEN series reaching its 30th anniversary—an important milestone for a project I’ve devoted much of my life to—I felt this was the most fitting moment to bring one chapter to a close,” he posted on the social media many still call Twitter.
Harada is arguably the face of the collective development team at Bandai Namco under the Tekken Project Banner. He not only oversaw the development of Tekken, now a 30-year-old series, but also the Soul Calibur series, Pokkén Tournament and even Summer Lesson, the VR game.
Harada will make one more appearance at the Tekken World Tour Finals happening in January 2026. He also drops some introspective thoughts of how he has since seen close friends retire and passing (a reason why he made the decision to leave), as well as, curiously, his Soundcloud. There’s a 60-minute DJ mix of Tekken music. It’s absolutely fire.
There was a point of time where memes where he’s know to publicly say “don’t ask me for shit,” but as of late his social posts have been very verbose and articulate, delivered in English. His social posts are a treasure trove of game design insights, and worth a look and follow.
By 2026, Tekken fans really can’t ask Harada for shit anymore, He’ll be a fighting game fan just like the rest of us.