Tekken 8 Developers Discuss Miary Zo, Tekken Tag Tournament, and Season 2 | Evo 2025

Tekken 8 had different large twelvemonth astatine Evo successful 2025. Arslan Ash won his sixth Evo title, his 3rd successful a row; Bandai Namco showed disconnected a marque caller extended gameplay trailer for Teken 8's adjacent DLC character, Armor King; and it besides showed a tiny tease for the last quality of Character Pass 2, Miary Zo. Just similar past year, I got a accidental to beryllium down with the Tekken squad to sermon these announcements, whether oregon not the existent surge of tag fighters has the squad reasoning astir dusting disconnected the aged Tekken Tag Tournament IP, and the existent authorities of Tekken 8 aft a tumultuous Season 2 motorboat and consequent exigency patches.

Read connected to find retired what Kohei Ikeda (Nakatsu), Game Director connected Tekken 8, Katsuhiro Harada, Tekken Project Director, and Michael Murray, Tekken 8 Producer had to say.

You guys conscionable revealed Miary Zo astatine the finals. You mentioned you took a travel to Madagascar to bash immoderate probe for the character. What benignant of things did you larn connected that travel that helped pass the plan of Miary Zo?

Kohei Ikeda (Nakatsu), Game Director connected Tekken 8: [We] researched a spot connected the internet, but determination wasn't that overmuch information. So really going determination and learning astir the radical and culture, the past of the country, not lone that, but conscionable to locomotion astir the metropolis and spot what existent radical look like, the heights, what their hairstyles look like, the colour of skin, conscionable successful wide what the wide colonisation looks like, it gave america a precise bully thought of wherever to start.

Katsuhiro Harada, Tekken Project Director: One of the archetypal things – determination were respective stages to the probe – was archetypal to sojourn the humanities sites and to larn astir the past and the past of the state and however it really developed. And not lone that, but past besides done employing section guides, really proceeding astir the inheritance of this and to larn astir the section colonisation and to spot what they look like, and besides to beryllium capable to inquire them astir what's important to them, what benignant of values they have, what benignant of spiritual aspects they have, and each of these kinds of things astir modern Madagascar. Not lone that, but the population.

It's an island, truthful there's not a immense population, but it's rather unsocial successful the warring crippled assemblage arsenic in, they person these tournaments locally wherever you tin gain points for the Tekken World Tour, obviously. We archetypal saw that they really had it rather often, erstwhile a period oregon so, which is rather a spot for specified a tiny community. So we wanted to larn much astir what motivated them to beryllium participating successful the crippled truthful much. So determination are respective facets that we really got to perceive astir straight from them. And really to presumption the colonisation and spot the characteristics from our constituent of view, but to inquire them arsenic your radical go, what are the emblematic ocular characteristics, whether that's the benignant of hairsbreadth oregon the colour of their skin, et cetera. To perceive this straight from their position of what signifies idiosyncratic from Madagascar.

We didn't really get to spot the combat benignant of this character, but we did spot that it is African martial arts. Can you describe, oregon overgarment a representation for america what this quality volition combat like?

Harada: So the warring benignant is fundamentally labeled arsenic Moraingy, but it's rather antithetic than what astir radical deliberation of arsenic a structured warring style, due to the fact that it's much similar a warring tourney oregon a gathering to fight. It's much loose, I guess, due to the fact that there's much country for idiosyncratic mentation arsenic acold arsenic techniques, et cetera, go. Not lone that, but different African martial arts are being utilized by this character. So assorted antithetic ones that travel from the main continent of Africa. So it's an amalgamation that associates with, and takes techniques from respective things.

Nakatsu: Yeah, basically, similar Harada said, Moraingy is the base, but past there's besides celebrated arts successful Africa, specified arsenic Dambe, which is simply a unsocial one. Some of the techniques from that person been included arsenic well. But the mounting of this quality is that she's liked by animals, similar assorted chaotic animals successful the ecosystem. And truthful not lone has she learned from these martial artists, but besides from animals. They're taking their unsocial question and characteristics and effort to instrumentality them into her warring style.

Between a quality similar Armor King wherever you're taking an existing quality and updating them to Tekken 8, oregon Clive wherever you're adapting a quality from different spot into Tekken 8, oregon Miary Zo wherever you're gathering a full caller quality from scratch, what benignant of quality plan process bash you bask the astir and what's the astir challenging?

Nakatsu: It's rather hard to take 1 due to the fact that they each person their unsocial processes that I enjoy. For example, Armor King, taking that bottommost archetype pro wrestling and being capable to soma it retired much successful Tekken 8 by doing the poison mist, not lone arsenic reversals, but assorted ways to usage that to pb into throwing. And besides conscionable to benignant of represent him arsenic a antithetic benignant of pro wrestler successful the mode wherever helium has much brutal strikes and precise visceral, violent, striking capabilities compared to King, for example, portion besides being capable to weave successful determination immoderate throws and things similar that. So making him truly important arsenic what radical are seeing connected TV for the bottommost pro wrestler, doing that is conscionable thing I truly personally enjoyed.

That said, idiosyncratic similar Clive wherever you instrumentality a IP from determination other and you effort to faithfully recreate that successful our crippled arsenic overmuch arsenic possible, but you inactive person that small portion wherever you person a small spot of state to adhd worldly to marque it acceptable much people into the game, moving wrong those constraints is really originative and a batch of fun. But past with Miary Zo, making a marque caller quality from scratch, conscionable to beryllium capable to usage our afloat resources – we're rather bully astatine creating the animations – for example, successful particular, and conscionable moving arsenic a afloat squad and having respective radical lend ideas and to beryllium capable to coherently bring that unneurotic into an archetypal quality itself is precise fulfilling. So it's hard to take one.

Harada: First and foremost, I truly bask creating these marque caller characters, creating from zero. But besides there's a antithetic benignant of enjoyment successful creating a impermanent character. For example, erstwhile bringing Akuma from the Street Fighter series, to beryllium capable to look astatine it from a antithetic standpoint, not that of a developer per se, archetypal you person to enactment yourself successful the shoes of the fans of that peculiar quality and deliberation wherefore is this quality truthful beloved and what makes this quality unsocial and basal retired and to commencement from there. So you commencement from that fan's position and it's truly enjoyable to past soma retired the quality successful that manner. Or for example, erstwhile you're taking a quality from the Final Fantasy bid and you really go portion of that instrumentality basal of those games arsenic you're going done that process.

Switching to much wide Tekken questions, 1 of the large stories successful warring games close present is tag fighters. This renaissance of tag fighters from Marvel Tokon to Invincible VS, 2XKO tag fighters are the rage close present and you guys hap to person a tag warring crippled successful there. Has determination been immoderate benignant of tendency to revisit Tekken Tag Tournament?

Harada: That's a precise hard question. Back successful '99 erstwhile I made the archetypal Tag Tournament... each quality has truthful galore moves successful a 3D fighter, right, compared to these different games that there's truthful overmuch to larn conscionable for 1 character. And past to brace that with two, adjacent though backmost past successful Tag 1, a batch of the characters were called compatible oregon you'd person versions that look different, but they stock a akin benignant of determination list. Whereas the Tekken bid progressed, the characters became much unsocial successful their determination sets, etc. So it's adjacent much progressive to effort to larn and maestro a character, and past different 1 connected apical of that. And past erstwhile you propulsion successful the operation of the 2 and your opponent's characters, there's conscionable truthful overmuch much cognition that's indispensable to bask the game.

So the hardcore, they ate it up, for example, successful Tag 2. But for your mean subordinate it was precise hard to summation a much casual audience, I conjecture you could say. So if we were to bash it again alternatively than person a standalone game, it would astir apt beryllium amended to person it arsenic immoderate benignant of a abstracted mode wrong a mean Tekken franchise, right?

Michael Murray, Tekken 8 Producer: Nakatsu and myself, we astir apt grew up successful the arcades playing portion helium was making Tag 1, truthful we truly bask the game. I conjecture we're much connected the hardcore broadside of being capable to usage respective characters and such, and we loved Tag 2. But we are afloat alert that determination were conscionable truthful galore radical that couldn't get a grip connected it due to the fact that of each the cognition that's involved.

Let’s speech a small spot astir Season 2. There's been a batch of urgent updates that you guys person released to update Tekken 8 aft the archetypal motorboat of the caller season. Where bash you deliberation the crippled is astatine close now? How bash you consciousness astir it? Do you consciousness similar it's successful a bully spot oregon bash you deliberation that there's inactive enactment to beryllium done?

Nakatsu: For Season 2, arsenic I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve realized passim the talks that we've had, that galore radical successful the assemblage were expecting a antithetic attack to possibly alteration much antiaircraft options and things similar that, and I regret that the changes successful the crippled didn't conscionable those expectations. The reasoning primitively down Season 2 was that the team, the Balance team, for example, the tuning unit were truly trying to spell aft thing caller to marque it consciousness rather caller for Season 2; to marque a batch of changes, but that didn't needfully crook retired successful the mode we had hoped and I'm alert of that. So we did so bash respective rounds of patches to effort to bring the crippled person to what those expectations were from the community.

And we are inactive present watching the competitory country and keeping an oculus connected however matches play retired to spot what changes we mightiness inactive request to marque to bring the crippled much successful enactment with expectations. So yeah, it's a precise hard situation.

Murray: In addition, I've had truthful galore talks with Nakatsu astir the game. I besides judge it's gotten better. We've addressed galore issues that the assemblage has had. So if radical haven't played the crippled successful a while, I anticipation they volition due to the fact that a batch has really changed done these patches. And arsenic Nakatsu said, I judge we're inactive playing the crippled and watching the country closely. And I besides consciousness that it's not perfect, but it's a batch amended than it initially was. So we inactive proceed that process and... We're precise gladsome that radical are sticking with america and being diligent portion we're going done the process and we anticipation to proceed to effort to conscionable those expectations.

Harada: Tekken 8 was a marque caller challenge, it's particularly important to enactment that the Tekken bid has ever had the arcade mentation first, wherever we had astir 2 years to truly fto it simmer. When radical archetypal got their hands connected the console version, that was rather evolved from what the archetypal released crippled was. But this time, since we didn't person the arcades and went consecutive to console and everyone got that archetypal mentation from the commencement astir the world. And the squad is rather young arsenic we've had a turnover of members age-wise, etc. So the goal, besides conscionable to support successful mind, is that we weren't trying to marque a Tekken 7.5 oregon thing similar that. It was expected to beryllium a brand-new game. And we deliberation that radical truly realized that astatine motorboat due to the fact that it did rather well.

It got warring crippled of the year, 9 connected Metacritic, I deliberation arsenic well. It conscionable happened that with Season 2, we tried to marque the conception adjacent much pronounced, I conjecture you could say, and we went excessively acold successful a definite direction. So evidently we've been trying to person connection with the assemblage and to effort to bring it to a crushed wherever everyone's blessed astir that. So it was rather a situation and we're continually moving with the assemblage truthful that... We privation to bash caller stuff, but astatine the aforesaid time, if thing doesn't consciousness similar it should beryllium successful Tekken, whether that's a brand-new concept, Tekken oregon not, that's thing we'll review. But the thought is simply a brand-new game. So hopefully radical volition support an unfastened caput astir that regard.

Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial shaper astatine IGN. You tin find him connected twitter @JurassicRabbit