Three Tekken veterans leave Bandai Namco for SNK’s VS Studio — and still no game announced

Bandai Namco has lost a third key member of the Tekken team: former Tekken 8 game director Kohei Ikeda has announced he is joining SNK-owned VS Studio. Ikeda follows producer Katsuhiro Harada, who now serves as CEO of VS Studio, and game director Yuichi Yonemori, who worked on Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Tekken 6. This means two-thirds of the Tekken Project's leadership have now moved to the same studio.

In a social media post, Ikeda confirmed the move, calling it "the next step in my journey." He said working on games again with two of his former bosses "feels nostalgic in many ways, while the excitement of creating something completely new makes every day incredibly fulfilling." Ikeda added that he is "really looking forward to seeing what we can create together."

The departure of three high-profile veterans raises serious questions about the future of the Tekken series. Harada, who became the face of the franchise with Tekken 3 and spent three decades at Bandai Namco, left the company three months ago to lead VS Studio. Yonemori, a 31-year veteran of Bandai Namco, joined him shortly after. Now Ikeda, who directed Tekken 8, has followed suit.

Despite the concentration of talent, VS Studio has yet to announce any project or game. The studio was established in Tokyo in May 2026 as a subsidiary of SNK, which itself is now controlled by the Electronic Gaming Development Company — an investment arm fully owned by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. The lack of announcements has led to speculation about what the studio is actually working on, and whether Bandai Namco can maintain the momentum of the Tekken franchise without its core leadership.