Harada: Tekken 8’s evolution to PS5 and Xbox Series X will be ‘worth all the money’

With Tekken 8, Bandai Namco made the decision to launch the title on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, ditching the last generation of hardware—and it’s clear to see why.

At a recent preview event that Dot was able to attend with travel expenses provided by Bandai Namco, Tekken executive producer Katsuhiro Harada and producer Michael Murray (who translated for Harada) spoke about the jump to this more powerful hardware and what the team wanted to do to elevate the series to new heights.

Related: Tekken 8 hands-on: A console-first approach levels up an arcade classic

Harada was eager to talk about how the team at Bandai wanted to work hard on the game’s graphics to make sure Tekken 8 was “worth all the money.” One of the major goals Harada and his team wanted to achieve was for consumers to feel “glad” they invested in the hardware because of the new tech the game utilizes.

While graphics are all well and good, looking pretty isn’t the only reason for the series’ move to better hardware. 

“The load times are so much shorter than they used to be,” Harada was quick to mention, pointing out that the option to reload rematches speedily was a great reason to develop Tekken 8 for current-gen hardware. Murray elaborated on this, claiming players who are “mad and salty [will just] want to jump right back in.”

Harada even claimed the consoles can “be quicker than a PC at some times because of the special GPU that the Series X and PS5 use.” Enabling people to “get right back in” to the game is “probably the biggest thing that’s going to evolve the player experience,” Harada stated.

Related: Tekken 8’s explosive Special Style controls open the series to newcomers

Harada also acknowledged that if players could buy a high-end PC, they could tweak the graphics to fit their preferences. But with a standardized console, anyone can have that beautiful game at a far more reasonable price.

With the game moving to Unreal Engine 5, Bandai was aggressive in its approach to photorealistic visuals to make this one of the most beautiful Tekken games ever created, providing a great viewing experience for those watching the matches. The new engine also leads to a more powerful game, where players can be absorbed into the world and marvel at their stunning combos. 

Now, all we need to do is hope both the Series X and PS5 continue their recent steady supply of hardware so whenever Tekken 8 finally gets a release date people can make use of these supercharged graphics and upgraded features.