SNK Corporation has just announced that it has decided to invest in a newly established game development studio founded by Mr. Katsuhiro Harada. For those who did not know, Harada was the boss of the Tekken franchise.
SNK claims that they will combine technology, sensibility, and world-class expertise to pursue the ultimate. From a free, open, and spacious environment, they will generate new ideas and create memorable games.
According to the press release, the “VS” in VS Studio holds various meanings. It represents their roots in “Video game Soft (VS Development Division),” the spirit of “Versus” challenging tradition, and many other meanings symbolizing innovation and challenge, such as “Visionary Standard,” “Volition Shift,” and “Vanguard Spirit.”
By bringing together technology and knowledge, and working with passionate colleagues, VS Studio aims to deliver the best gaming experiences to users worldwide. VS Studio aspires to be a studio that continues to take on such challenges, and we are looking for new team members who share our vision.
Now, since I’m a big Tekken fan, I have to comment on this. Harada left Bandai Namco at the end of 2025. Since he was the man behind the Tekken franchise, everyone assumed that he was retiring. However, it appears that wasn’t the case.
This announcement makes it crystal clear that Bandai Namco, for some weird reason, wanted to fire Harada. Again, this is the father of Tekken. He is the man responsible for it. Tekken was his baby. There is no way in hell he’d leave and abandon it to create another fighting game. This is like Ed Boon leaving NetherRealm Studios and the Mortal Kombat franchise to join Capcom and form a new studio.
One thing is certain. The EVO tournaments will feel a bit weird when the new fighting game of VS Studio comes out.
As for Tekken 8, things are not looking well. Season 3 felt underwhelming. After all those months, we were expecting major changes. Instead, Season 3 had minor tweaks and changes. Not only that, but the game is currently unbalanced. Some fighters are ridiculously overpowered. A lot of times, Tekken 8 feels like a casino 50/50 game. This means that you have to guess to block or to duck, and pray to God that you have chosen the right thing. The tracking of some moves is also ridiculous, making side-stepping a complete mess.
Before someone says the usual “Get Good“, I’m a Tekken God of Destruction 1. I’m not saying I’m one of the top players. Obviously, I’m nowhere close to players like Arslan Ash, K-Wish, or EDGE. These are Tekken Gods. However, I’m not a novice player either.
All in all, this news will frustrate a lot of Tekken players. We all wanted Harada to stay and fix this mess. And I’m certain that he’d do his best to correct course. However, someone at Bandai Namco had a different opinion. And that’s where we are now. So yeah… good luck with that, Bandai Namco!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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