Kohei Ikeda, a key developer for Tekken 8, announced today (1st) via social media that he has left Bandai Namco Entertainment.

Director Ikeda began his career in game development in 2008 as a game designer for 'Soulcalibur IV' after joining Bandai Namco Entertainment in 2007. Prior to that, he worked in video production, including creating game-related video content and DVDs for the 'Tougeki' fighting game tournament.

He later joined the Tekken series development team, handling battle design for Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Starting with Tekken 7, he served as director, establishing himself as a core member of the development team alongside General Producer Katsuhiro Harada and Producer Michael Murray. He served as both development producer and director for Tekken 8, and following Harada's departure, he had been leading the development of Tekken 8 Season 3 alongside Murray. With Ikeda's departure from Bandai Namco Studios today (1st), Murray will now lead the project.

In his farewell post, Ikeda wrote, "It was a dream come true for someone like me, who spent every day at the game center during my school years obsessively playing matches, to become a member of Namco." He expressed deep gratitude for the opportunity to serve as director for Tekken 7 and Tekken 8 and to communicate with Tekken and fighting game fans around the world.

He also reflected on the frequent player complaints regarding game balance in Tekken 7 and Tekken 8. Ikeda noted that even the harsh rebukes, such as "Fix the balance!", served as a valuable driving force that pushed the project forward. Expressing his gratitude to all the players, he added that he is passing the baton to his team members and will continue to pursue new challenges as a game developer.

Meanwhile, Tekken 8 received a patch on May 28th that included the update for the first Season 3 character, 'Kunimitsu,' along with various bug fixes and adjustments to Heat system move performance. The development team stated that these measures were intended to curb moves with high risk-to-reward ratios and excessive Heat state durations, adding that they will continue to monitor balance and overall battle impact to ensure a better competitive environment.