Tekken director Kouhei Ikeda leaves Bandai Namco after 20 years

Kouhei Ikeda, a longtime Tekken director, has left Bandai Namco after 20 years. He worked on Soul Calibur 4, moved to Tekken Tag Tournament 2 as a designer, and later directed Tekken 7 and Tekken 8. His departure was posted on Twitter on June 1, 2026. The announcement arrives during a turbulent stretch for the series: a disastrous Tekken 8 Season 2 launch was followed by an also-disastrous Season 3 launch, and several key staff have departed.

Last September producer Yohei Shimbori left Bandai Namco Studios, and at the end of the year longtime producer Katsuhiro Harada left after 31 years to open VS Studio at SNK. Now, half a year later, Ikeda has stepped away. In his message he said he was proud to have created games alongside people who poured their hearts into the work and that the values he and the Tekken project cherish — staying close to fans and building the game with the community — will not change.

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