‘Tekken’ Producer Katsuhiro Harada To Leave Bandai Namco After 30 Years
Tekken Executive Producer and Executive Director Katsuhiro Harada has announced he will leave Bandai Namco, after thirty years of working at the company, and forming a legacy that has shaped fighting games.
Harada revealed the news on X on December 8th, touting it as the final day of the Tekken series 30th anniversary. “I’d like to share that I’ll be leaving Bandai Namco at 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.”
“My roots lie in the days when I supported small local tournaments in Japanese arcades and in small halls and community centers overseas,” Harada recounted. “I still remember carrying arcade cabinets by myself, encouraging people to ‘Please try TEKKEN,’ and directly facing the players right in front of me.”
“The conversations and atmosphere we shared in those places became the core of who I am as a developer and game creator.”
Harada further reminised, “Even as the times changed, those experiences have remained at the center of my identity. And even after the tournament scene grew much larger, many of you continued to treat me like an old friend- challenging me at venues, inviting me out for drinks at bars. Those memories are also deeply precious to me.”
“In recent years, I experienced the loss of several close friends in my personal life, and in my professional life I witnessed the retirement or passing of many senior colleagues whom I deeply respect. Those accumulated events made me reflect on the ‘time I have left as a creator.’ “
It should be noted Harada gave a heartfelt tribute to his “rival,” the late Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki who passed away last year.
“During that period, I sought advice from Ken Kutaragi- whom I respect as though he were another father- and received invaluable encouragement and guidance. His words quietly supported me in making this decision,” Harada shared.
“Over the past four to five years, I’ve gradually handed over all of my responsibilities, as well as the stories and worldbuilding I oversaw, to the team, bringing me to the present day. Looking back, I was fortunate to work on an extraordinary variety of projects- VR titles (such as Summer Lesson), Pokkén Tournament, the SoulCalibur series, and many others, both inside and outside the company.”
“Each project was full of new discoveries and learning, and every one of them became an irreplaceable experience for me. To everyone who has supported me, to communities around the world, and to all the colleagues who have walked alongside me for so many years, I offer my deepest gratitude,” Harada thanked.
“I’ll share more about my next steps at a later date. Thank you very much for everything.”
Harada also included a postscript. “Although I will be leaving the company at the end of 2025, Bandai Namco has asked me to appear at the TWT [Tekken World Tournament] Finals at the end of January 2026, so I expect to attend as a guest.”
Harada concluded his post with one last gift; music. “For 30 years I kept saying, ‘I’ll do it someday,’ and never once performed as a DJ at a tournament event. So instead, I will be releasing- for the first and last time- a 60-minute TEKKEN DJ-style nonstop mix (DJ mix), personally edited by myself, together with this announcement.”
“Listening to it brings back many memories. Thank you again, sincerely, for all these years.” The accompanying Soundcloud link to the track shows hundreds of fans leaving comments of gratitude and well-wishes to Harada.
The Tekken series official X account also followed up on the news. After reiterating Harada’s departure, and his attendance at the Word Tour 2025 Global Finals in Malamö, Sweden, the future of the series was explained. “To our fans, rest assured that we are fully committed to future development and content plans for ‘TEKKEN 8.'”
“We will continue to take community feedback on the game and its content to heart to ensure that we uphold the vision and spirit built by Harada-san, dedicating our upmost efforts to ensure the legacy of the TEKKEN series continues as a fighting game franchise beloved worldwide,” the Tekken Project Team assured.
“We express our deepest gratitude to Harada-san for providing us with vision and continued success over the years,” the statement concluded.
Per a 2013 interview with Edge magazine, Harada grew up at a time games were treated with great suspicion. His parents didn’t buy him a games console, and when he snuck out to arcades he had to avoid the all-powerful Japanese Parent Teacher Association. Sometimes, he’d be dragged out.
As such, he sought out a job where he could play games as much as possible.
He joined an arcade as a promoter, planning events and tournaments, and using his psychology degree from Waseda University (alongside Itagaki) to see what would maximize playtime. He asked customers what they liked and disliked about the games, deciding where the cabinet could be placed, and even what kinds of drinks were served.
It should be no surprise Harada broke sales records for a Namco arcade for two months in a row- all within his first year. The first time a Namco employee had done as such. Thanks to his award for his hard work, he was able to approach management and ask if he could work in games development.
By the end of his first year at Namco, Harada was balancing Tekken– even before it was going to be a fighting game. He would also go on to voice from Tekken, to Tekken 4; Marshall Law, Yoshimitsu, Kunimitsu, and Forest Law. Tekken 3 would see Harada in the Director’s chair for all subsequent mainline titles (barring 6 and 8, where he was Executive Producer).
At the end of 2018, Harada was promoted to leader and supervisor of Bandai Namco’s Fighting Game eSports Strategy team, and General Manager in 2019
What made Harada stand out was how he interacted and played with fans; addressing concerns such as bust sizes being incorrect, and allegations of overpriced DLC to the point of reorganizing the Tekken development team. He also interviewed other fighting game directors, producers, and more in his “Harada’s Bar” YouTube series.
In short, fans love him because he doesn’t act like an executive. Rather than guard his words, he was open and not afraid to tackle difficult discussions; such as representation within Tekken.
This has also led to comical moments. “Don’t ask me for s–t” became a meme, presenting himself as having a strong rivalry with other fighting game directors (again, always with love), and he even addressed the oft made request (usually made in jest) to have a Waffle House stage in a Tekken game.
