‘Tekken’ Series Director Says Marketing Is Top Priority When Creating New Fighters: “We Analyze The Market, Identify The Most Effective Approach, And Then Translate That Into Character Design”
According to director Katsuhiro Harada, where once the Tekken series sought to create new characters based on the dev team’s respective appreciation for a martial arts style, recent years have seen this design philosophy give way to one more focused on the concept of ‘market appeal’.
The fighting game franchise’s long-serving shepherd offered this insight into his team’s current approach to character design while speaking to former Sengoku Basura series producer and current GPTRACK50 Studio president Hiroyuki Kobayashi for Famitsu‘s ongoing Behind The Scenes Of Game Development creator-on-creator interview series.
Following discussions on each creator’s career history, work ethic, and opinions regarding the role of a producer in game development, Kobayashi eventually moved to ask Harada for insight into his team’s process for “designing new characters for Tekken,” to which the former Marshall Law voice actor revealed, “The process has changed a lot since we were developing the earlier titles in the 1990s.”
“Back then, mixed martial arts tournaments were booming, and we’d watch them thinking, ‘We need this fighting style in Tekken!‘” recalled Harada, as machine translated by Chat GPT. “We’d pick up on martial arts that weren’t well known yet but seemed like they’d become popular, and then incorporate them into our characters. That’s how we designed fighters back then.”
Met with the observation from Kobayashi that “it was a lot of gut feeling and momentum?”, Harada affirmed “Exactly. But in recent years, our approach has changed significantly.”
“Now, before designing a character, we conduct in-depth research to determine which audience the character will appeal to [emphasis Famitsu’s],” he detailed. “We create a solid concept first, and then introduce new characters accordingly.”
“For example, let’s say we want to increase sales in a particular region,” said Harada. “To do that, we need to create a character that resonates with players from that region. We analyze the market, identify the most effective approach, and then translate that into character design.”
“Fortunately, after 30 years in this industry, I’ve accumulated a vast amount of data on what different markets respond to,” he added. “If we want to gain traction in South America or attract new fans in a specific part of Europe, I can immediately assess what kind of character concept would work best in those regions.”
In response, Kobayashi then asserted, “That’s an interesting approach—starting with the target market first and then designing the character to fit.”
However, in offering one clarification to Kobayashi’s summary, Harada noted, “That said, not every new character is designed with a market-driven approach.”
“Take Reina, a new fighter introduced in Tekken 8,” the Tekken director explained. “She wasn’t created based on marketing data but rather because we needed her for the game’s story. Of course, we still designed her with a broad appeal in mind—considering factors like age, region, and overall likability—but her inclusion was primarily driven by narrative needs. I’m glad she turned out to be as popular as we hoped.
At current, the next DLC fighter for Tekken 8, Anna Williams, is set to step into the ring on March 31st for Season Pass holders and April 3rd for general audiences.
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