The latest character reveal for Tekken 8 was seemingly posted too early, causing the game’s director Katsuhiro Harada to complain about it on Twitter.
A video showing as-yet-unannounced fighter Bryan Fury was reportedly posted on an official Instagram account before Bandai Namco had planned to.
It’s expected that the announcement will be ‘officially’ made during the ongoing Combo Breaker fighting game tournament, the Tekken segment of which is being streamed by the official Bandai Namco Esports YouTube channel.
Although the trailer was promptly pulled, it was up long enough for other YouTube channels to start sharing it online.
In a now-deleted tweet, Tekken series director Katsuhiro Harada seemingly blamed Bandai Namco’s European arm for the accidental leak.
“What the xxxx Bandai Namco Euro”, Harada tweeted. “That’s why I warned you years ago not to post on a timer. Well, I’m going home now, thanks! Ha ha ha.”
Tekken 8 producer Michael Murray also took to Twitter to apologise to fans for the leak.
“I apologize to the fans who saw that particular thing in not the way [Harada] and I had wanted it to happen,” he wrote.
“I feel bad for all you guys and also the dev team who gave up weekends to work on it.”
I apologize to the fans who saw that particular thing in not the way @Harada_TEKKEN and I had wanted it to happen. I feel bad for all you guys and also the dev team who gave up weekends to work on it ?
— Michael Murray (@mykeryu) May 28, 2023
Tekken 8 was officially announced in September 2022 during a PlayStation State of Play livestream.
While a release date still hasn’t been confirmed, the game is planned for release on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC via Steam.
In February, Bandai Namco streamed a 36-minute breakdown of the fighting sequel’s gameplay mechanics, including its heat system, rage system, and recovery gauge.
