Kohei Ikeda, who left Bandai Namco Entertainment on June 1, announced via social media today (the 18th) that he has joined VS Studio, founded by former general producer Katsuhiro Harada.

Ikeda began his career in video production, working on game-related video content and DVDs for the 'Tougeki' fighting game tournament. He joined Bandai Namco Entertainment in 2007 and started his game development career as a designer for 'Soulcalibur IV,' released in 2008. He later became deeply involved in the Tekken series, handling battle design for Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Starting with Tekken 7, he served as director, establishing himself as a core member of the Tekken development team alongside Katsuhiro Harada, who has led the series since the 1990s, and producer Michael Murray, who joined the team with Tekken 6. Ikeda also served as development producer and director for Tekken 8, leading the development of Season 3 following Harada's departure from the company, before leaving himself and joining VS Studio.

In his social media post, Ikeda wrote, "Working hard on game development again with my two former bosses feels nostalgic in a way, but it is also incredibly rewarding and filled with the excitement of creating something new. I am genuinely looking forward to seeing what we can build here."

VS Studio is a new development studio under SNK, established this past May by Katsuhiro Harada after he left Bandai Namco Entertainment. While the studio has announced it will co-develop games with SNK, specific details—including the genre—have yet to be revealed. However, given SNK's reputation as a powerhouse in fighting games and the addition of Ikeda, another key figure from the Tekken series, a new fighting game is considered a likely candidate for their first project.

VS Studio plans to share further updates through its official website and social media channels and is currently recruiting new team members.