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After being canceled in 2020 and becoming a digital summer tournament in 2021, EVO is back in full force this year. The fighting game tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada attracted players from all over the world. Between the hype contests and the floor festivities was a slew of announcements. Multiple fighting games get rollback net code and the fatal anger series is finally being picked up again with a sequel to Garou: Mark of the Wolves. It was a great time for players and spectators alike, and it feels good to have EVO back. Of all these announcements, the newest Tekken news stood out.

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This announcement came after the Tekken 7 Grand Finals on Sunday afternoon, initially taking the form of a casual update trailer. Tekken 7 Balance update has been confirmed this month, and the Tekken World Tour 2022 Global Finals will be held in February. However, the trailer started with an Unreal Engine logo and the redesigned Bandai Namco logo. When the trailer ended, the original was from Kazuya Mishima Tekken model in a modern look with the message “Get Ready” that slowly comes in. With series director Katsuhiro Harada making only a brief appearance, the door is open for fans to speculate on what this teaser means.


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Tekken 1 Remake

The first thing many fans thought of when the trailer ended was that some sort of… Tekken 1 remake could be in the works. It would be a strange step, but not unprecedented. Soul Calibur 6 brought the series back to Soul Calibur 1largely due to the SC5 cast is less popular. Tekken doesn’t have that problem, and even with Heihachi Mishima possibly dying for good at the end of Tekken 7he could still appear as a memory like his late wife Kazumi or king of fightersGeese Howard. Since the teased look on a modern Kazuya has his scar and red eye, both of which came from games na Tekken 1a remake seems unlikely.


Tekken X Street Fighter

The next option is: Tekken X Street Fighterthe other side of the decade-old crossover with Capcom’s street fighter franchisee. Through Street Fighter X Tekken‘s disastrous sales and reputation, the Tekken X Street Fighter project was put on hold indefinitely. It seems that Akuma’s story integrated cameo in Tekken 7 is arguably the furthest this crossover goes.

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Tekken Tag Tournament 3

The Tekken franchise is not limited to numbered games and crossovers. There have been several spin-offs such as the live service Tekken Revolution and two Tekken Tag Tournament (TTT) titles. The TTT games are quite popular with the fans as they are both non-canon mashups of characters, with Tekken Tag Tournament 2 serve as the main competitor Tekken game after Tekken 6. It had some balance issues from mixing bosses with normal fighters, but fans still enjoyed it.


The only problem with releasing another dream match Tekken game is that TTT 2 underperformed. Because of the many fighting games that came out around 2012, it seems like Tag Tournament 2 was lost in the fold. The Wii U’s low install base and small audience of traditional fighting games meant it struggled to keep up. While a reissue of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 it may be doing better now than it was ten years ago, the fact that it’s undersold means a third entry is unlikely.

Tekken 8

That said, it is very likely that Tekken 8 is currently under development. The opening logos are a great indicator, as specifying Unreal Engine implies Tekken 8 could be developed on Unreal Engine 5. It’s hard to tell if Kazuya’s teased model is new, but it could be. Also, unlike most fighting games, Tekken tends to progress chronologically with each game. Those familiar with Tekken 7‘s story will know it ends with a tribute to Kazuya’s Tekken 1 ending, in which he throws a defeated Heihachi over a cliff, which could be the scene in this teaser.


Another reason to believe the mystery project is: Tekken 8 is that Bandai Namco recently fell victim to a ransomware attack and a schedule describes the next year of major games. This list is not verified, but Tekken 8 was also part of the more proven leaked Nvidia GeForce Now database. Bandai Namco has more than a tiny teaser to show for the next one Tekken project, but more information may come towards the end of the World Tour Finals. Tekken 7 has struck hard over the past five years and it feels like the right time to prepare for his next title fight.

A Tekken project is under development.

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