Don’t expect any cameo characters like Noctis or Akuma to appear in the shiny new Tekken 8 trailer anytime soon. According to Harada on Twitter, the team is currently focusing on other core Tekken characters.
This is in response to a user request to bring Leon Kennedy, director of Bandai Namco’s highly regarded fighting game series, and Albert Wesker of Resident Evil fame, into the game. Harada, a man notorious for asking fans not to ask him for shit, responded nonetheless. The user would later make his account private to avoid the spotlight.
“Before playing a guest role, you should make a character first, so forget about the guest role.” Harada responded frankly and to the point. Folks, the game isn’t out yet, only recently played in early alpha testing with physics settings. You know, the main cast of Iron Fist characters isn’t ready yet.
This isn’t the first time someone with a Twitter account and a dream has messaged Harada asking for a list of characters they̵ 7;d like to see. Granted, this hasn’t worked yet, but that doesn’t stop people from trying. You can see similar stoners replying to Mortal Kombat’s request for Ed Boon’s post, and it was a common sight when Smash Bros: Ultimate was still rolling out DLC characters on a regular basis.
But to their relief, Tekken fans have trained the behavior to a degree, just like in Smash and Mortal Kombat. In recent memory, cameo roles have been a surefire way to generate hype and DLC sales for developers, allowing players to see a pop culture icon or even a character from another fighting game get a cheeky cameo. Part of the reason this has proven popular in fighting games is because it keeps fans guessing what might come next, and praying for their own favorites.
Tekken 7 revels in this strategy, adding exciting cameo DLC characters such as Noctis from Final Fantasy XV, Negan from The Walking Dead, Keith Howard from The King of Fighters, and more . These are great for bringing in waves of new players, even with the occasional OG disagreement. You can be sure that cameos played a role in Tekken 7’s huge sales numbers.
But the thing is, these are post-launch! Some will point to Akuma as the starting character, but that’s not the case! Tekken 7 released the pure Tekken cast a full year before Tekken 7: Fate Retribution came out, and Satsui No Hado’d our consoles. You have to put the Tekken character in there before you can have fun.
But don’t get discouraged, as if you’ve read Harada’s words, you’ll realize that cameo roles are by no means ruled out. Why are they doing this? They’re just not a priority right now. So calm down, have a little patience, and keep those fingers crossed.
If you’re looking for more information on Tekken 8, you should know that beta and crossplay should be coming sometime in the future! With our continued updates to Tekken 8, as well as various other fighting games, it looks like it’s a great time for the genre.
