Katsuhiro Harada has bid farewell to more than thirty years of working under the Bandai Namco banner, moving on from Tekken after decades of developing the series. In a new social media post, Harada ushered in 2026 by stressing that he’s ‘no longer a developer/creator of the TEKKEN series’.
At the start of December 2025, Harada and the Bandai Namco team shared the news that the legendary developer would be parting ways with the firm after 31 years.
Katsuhiro Harada Has Moved On
In a new post on social media, Katsuhiro Harada shared the following message:
The iconic developer was quick to update his bio, writing, ‘Former Game Director and Chief Producer of action and fighting games.’
On December 8, Harada shared the revelation with fans worldwide that he would be stepping down from his tenured spot at Bandai Namco:
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.
Fans shared their sentiments in the comments under Harada’s post. One drew comparisons to the series that Harada was pivotal in creating, saying, ‘Heihachi ‘died’ like 4 times. Kazuya came back from a volcano. We know how this works in the Tekken universe. See you in the next patch notes, boss.’
Others offered more simple, heartfelt messages: ‘We will always think of you, Harada-san, thank you for everything.’
Harada worked in production and direction roles on the Tekken series since Tekken 3 debuted in 1997, and was a driving force in the space ever since. He’s set to appear one last time in the Tekken space at some upcoming esports events, but then the world afterwards is his oyster.
Are you sad to see the back of Katsuhiro Harada? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPUs could hit $5000 in 2026
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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Good riddance. Hope this is the end of Tekken, hopefully Ed Boon and MK is next. Fighting games outside SNK have been trash arena fighters also good.
Same bro im glad they ginna get new development in tekken tired of the juggle system. Mk needs this as well. I want more balanced fighting games not just long combos that or juggles that have no answer. Or at least have a damn backing up system where u can run from your oppenent cuz u know movements is most of the fight not just throwing punches.
Good news for video gaming industry finally. Hope real fighting good games are back again. Time to VF and KOF to lead again.
KOF is on ice for a while SNK is making Art Of Fighting next. Someone is making DOA Koei Tecmo said they are outsourcing not sure who. Maybe someone like the Saudi’s gets Konami and Eighting to make Bloody Roar 5 and hopefully with EA maybe they can make Def Jam or a spiritual successor.
Tekken is done before Harada, Shimbori left Bandai so that series is done and it was awful. Tekken 8 story bad, gameplay bad, micro transactions awful, guest dlc trash, the response from devs horrible. Goodbye hope Michael Murray is next Tekken is trash so are the shills for the FGC like Max Dood who helped ruin gaming. Capcom is next SF6 is not doing it andd on the flops. Arc System is in for a rude awakening with Strive and Tokon and Netherrealm will be closed after this year.
Tekken is done, Netherrealm is next with Mortal Kombat and Injustice 3 won’t save them either boomer troll Ed Boon ruined them, Arc System after them with Tokon and Strive 2.0, fighting games have been trash. Maybe SNK brings back Maximum Impact just add single player story modes to games with cutscenes they have the money, bring back Buriki One.
It’s clear he was forced out by Bandai Namco. Tekken is done. He’s not retiring he is looking at other jobs so it’s clear this was a decision Bandai made for him. Shimbori probably saw the writing on the wall and left ahead of time.