is an upcoming

fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as blocking, grappling, counter-attacking, and chaining atta ...

developed and published by

Bandai Namco Entertainment is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California an ...

. The eighth main installment in the ''

Tekken is a Japanese Media mix, media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco). The franchise also includes film and print adaptations. The ...

'' series, the game is set to be released for

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North A ...

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

, and

Xbox Series X and Series S The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020 ...

Gameplay

According to director Katsuhiro Harada, ''Tekken 8'' gameplay will focus on "aggressiveness" and will have a new "Heat" system, in addition to returning gameplay features from ''Tekken 7'', such as Rage system-based attacks and “Screw”. The gameplay will reward aggressiveness rather than those who "turtle up". There will also be a focus on stage destruction, character reactions to these, and making the gameplay enjoyable to watch as well as play, since Tekken is now a high level E-Sports game. This new system was based on reception to the predecessor. Rather than recycling content, all the character models and stages are completely new and are meant to be an improvement over previous games. In contrast to ''Tekken 7'', which is powered by

Unreal Engine 4 Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game ''Unreal (1998 video game), Unreal''. Initially developed for Personal computer, PC first-person shooters, i ...

, ''Tekken 8'' will be powered by the

Unreal Engine 5 Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game '' Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of genr ...

, making it the very first fighting game to utilize this latest game engine.

Characters

There are currently 10 playable fighters (including palette swaps) announced for the game. New characters are highlighted in bold. * Jin Kazama/Devil Jin * Jack-8 *

Jun Kazama is a fictional character from the ''Tekken'' fighting game series, who made her debut in ''Tekken 2'', her first and only canonical appearance until the confirmation of her return in '' Tekken 8'' when she was revealed as a character during a ga ...

* Kazuya Mishima/Devil Kazuya * King II * Lars Alexandersson * Marshall Law * Paul Phoenix

Premise

Jin Kazama is a fictional character of the ''Tekken'' fighting game series created by Bandai Namco Entertainment. He was introduced as the protagonist in the 1997 game ''Tekken 3'' and has been the central character of the series from that game onwards. T ...

and his father,

Kazuya Mishima is a fictional character in Bandai Namco's ''Tekken'' fighting game series, first featured as the protagonist in the original 1994 game and later became one of the major antagonists and antihero of the series. The son of worldwide conglomerat ...

, are poised to begin their final battle, which has been building up for several years. While Jin already faced his relatives in previous games from the franchise, in the upcoming one, he is shown in a major conflict with his Devil Gene abnormality as it keeps absorbing his humanity to the point he becomes Devil Jin alter-ego in the middle of the fight. However, Harada has remarked that the final scene of the trailer involving broken chains act as symbolism to Jin breaking free from the conflicts he has been connected for several games. Set six months after the events of ''

Tekken 7 is a fighting game developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is the seventh main and ninth overall installment in the ''Tekken '' series. ''Tekken 7'' was released to Amusement arcade, arcades in March 2015. An updated arcade ve ...

'', the fight is reminiscent of the final battle between Kazuya and his father Heihachi, but Harada aims to surprise the audience. Jin wants to kill Kazuya to end the chaos from their linage as his father keeps causing chaos in the world. The game marks the return of

, Jin's mother, who was believed to be dead in the events of ''

Tekken 3 is a fighting game, the third entry in the ''Tekken'' series. It was released to the arcades in 1997, before being ported for the PlayStation in 1998. The arcade version of the game was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 as part of '' Tek ...

'' and onwards. Jun's design comes from artist Mari Shimazaki, famous for ''

Bayonetta is a series of action-adventure games created by Hideki Kamiya and developed by PlatinumGames. The franchise was introduced in 2009 with '' Bayonetta''. Two sequels were released, '' Bayonetta 2'' (2014) and '' Bayonetta 3'' (2022), as well as ...

''. The second trailer also revealed the return of Paul Phoenix, Marshall Law,

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...

, Lars Alexandersson, and the debut of Jack-8.

Development

''Tekken 8'' was announced on September 13, 2022, via the PlayStation State of Play. A teaser for a new mainline entry in the series was shown during ''Tekken 7'''s tournament at

EVO 2022 The 2022 Evolution Championship Series (commonly referred to as Evo 2022 or EVO 2022) was a fighting game event held in Las Vegas from August 5 to 7, 2022 as part of the long-running Evolution Championship Series. The event offered tournament ...

, before being formally announced on September 13, 2022, during Sony's ''State of Play'' presentation. It is set for release on the

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020 ...

, and Windows through

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizat ...

platforms. As a continuation from the seventh mainline game, it will focus on a conclusion of Kazuya and Jin's enmity.

References

External links

* {{Tekken series Bandai Namco games Namco games Tekken games Unreal Engine games Upcoming video games PlayStation 5 games Video game sequels Video games developed in Japan Xbox Series X and Series S games Windows games Multiplayer and single-player video games