{
  "id": 1899770,
  "title": "Tekken 8 director jumps ship to join Harada's new Vs Studio team",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/tekken-8-director-jumps-ship-to-join-haradas-new-vs-studio-team",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-19T09:06:29.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Eurogamer",
    "slug": "eurogamer",
    "url": "https://www.eurogamer.net/tekken-8-director-joins-harada-vs-studio"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Kohei Ikeda, the director of Tekken 8, has left his position at Bandai Namco to join Katsuhiro Harada's new studio, Vs Studio. The announcement was made via Ikeda's Twitter account, where he expressed his excitement about the opportunity to work with his former boss again. It is unclear what Vs Studio's first project will be, but the three developers - Ikeda, Harada, and Yuichi Yonemori - are set to reunite under one roof. Ikeda stated that he is enthusiastic about the prospect of creating something entirely new, while Harada had previously hinted at his departure from Tekken 8 in December. Vs Studio, backed financially by SNK, aims to combine technology, sensibility, and world-class expertise, with the goal of creating innovative games.",
  "summary": "Kohei Ikeda, the game director of Tekken 8 , has joined Katsuhiro Harada at recently formed and rival SNK developer Vs Studio. Read more",
  "key_points": [
    "Kohei Ikeda leaves Bandai Namco to join Vs Studio",
    "Former Tekken 8 director excited to work with Harada again",
    "Vs Studio aims to create innovative games with SNK backing"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The departure of Tekken 8's director to join Harada's new studio signals a significant brain drain for Bandai Namco and potentially major changes in the gaming landscape with this reunited team.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}