Tekken legend Katsuhiro Harada has announced he will be quitting Bandai Namco at the end of 2025 – and has shared a banging Tekken DJ megamix to mark the occasion.
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Harada has worked at Bandai Namco for more than 31 years, leading development on multiple Tekken, Soulcalibur and Ace Combat titles. He served as executive director on 2024’s Tekken 8 and this year’s Shadow Labyrinth.
However, Harada is set to leave the company at the end of the year. “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,” he explained in a statement.
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.
My roots lie…
— Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) December 8, 2025
“In recent years, I experienced the loss of several close friends in my personal life, and in my professional life I witnessed the retirement or passing of many senior colleagues whom I deeply respect. Those accumulated events made me reflect on the ‘time I have left as a creator’,” he continued, promising more details about his next steps “soon”.
To mark his departure, and ahead of a guest appearance at the Tekken World Tour finals next year, Harada has shared a Tekken megamix.
“For 30 years I kept saying, ‘I’ll do it someday’ and never once performed as a DJ at a tournament event. So instead, I will be releasing – for the first and last time – a 60-minute TEKKEN DJ-style nonstop mix, personally edited by myself, together with this announcement. Listening to it brings back many memories.” Check it out below:
Following the news of Harada’s departure, Bandai Namco has issued a statement about the future of Tekken. “Rest assured that we are fully committed to future development and content plans for Tekken 8,” they said.
“We will continue to take community feedback on the game to heart to ensure that we uphold the vision and spirit built by Harada-san, dedicating our utmost efforts to ensure the legacy of the Tekken series continues as a fighting game franchise beloved worldwide.”
In other news, a reworked version of Sleep Token’s ‘Rain’ soundtracks The Game Awards’ ‘Hype’ trailer and now fans are demanding a full release.
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