Tekken 8's Katsuhiro Harada & Michael Murray talk Heat System, Day 1 roster & game lifespan

Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada and producer Michael Murray took us deeper inside Tekken 8's Heat System, development on UE5, and much more.

TJ Denzer

March 29, 2023 6:22 AM

We recently got to make a stop by Bandai Namco of America’s offices to try one of the first preview builds of Tekken 8 and came away amazed by the changes to the game. More than that, we got to sit down with longstanding series director Katsuhiro Harada and Michael Murray to talk about the game and how it is shaping up. During our discussion, we dove deep into the new Heat System, how the team decides on the Day 1 roster, guest characters, developing the game on Unreal Engine 5, and whether or not Tekken 8 will have the same lifespan of support as Tekken 7.

Harada-san and Murray were kind enough to answer many of these burning questions, sharing some excellent insight into the development of the game. Building Tekken 8 in Unreal Engine 5 was no easy task. Murray and Harada admit that making characters from the ground up was tough work. They found that while the graphics were beautiful, getting characters recognizably right proved a challenge. No lack of effort has gone into making sure every character and their moves look great from every angle.

Additionally, we got to dig into questions like whether or not Tekken 8 is expected to have the lifespan of support Tekken 7 had. To this, Harada and Murray had a very interesting answer. Harada actually wanted to start on Tekken 8 sooner, but fans were having so much fun with Tekken 7 that the developers decided to do more content to satisfy the hype. Meanwhile, they’re not entirely certain if they want to work that long on Tekken 8. As Harada points out, there’s only so many years a developer can make games, and so he wants to make sure he can work on as much as possible before retirement. Nonetheless, if fans like Tekken 8, the developers will do their best to deliver for as long as people are enjoying the game.

There’s a lot in this interview, so be sure to watch it all. Want more like this Tekken 8 interview? Be sure to check out our YouTube channels at Shacknews and GamerHubTV where you’ll find a wide variety of interviews, gameplay, reviews, unboxings, and more on the latest video games, technology, and toys.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

Filed Under