Tekken 8 faced heavy criticism after Bandai Namco decided to sell Heihachi’s new stage separately from the Season 1 DLC pass. In response to the community’s uproar, Bandai Namco has reversed its decision, now offering the stage to Season Pass owners along with some in-game currency as an added incentive.
This update was shared through a message on Tekken 8’s official social media account. The post reads: “We apologize for not meeting the community’s expectations regarding the ‘Playable Character Year 1 Pass’ content and the release method of the ‘Genmaji Temple’ DLC. After carefully considering the feedback, the Tekken Project team has decided to implement the following changes.
This is clearly a nice gesture and the right move from both a PR and community management perspective. It was likely a situation that caused some internal turmoil, especially since the season pass—explicitly described in the message—was a character pass rather than a full content pass. However, as any Tekken player will tell you, stages aren’t just decorative backdrops; they have a real impact on gameplay. This explains the uproar when the stage was listed as a separate piece of DLC.
While this may seem like a resolution to the issue, one wonders where Tekken 8 will go from here in terms of its monetization practices. Yes, this time around, players receive the stage for free. But what about next season? One might assume that future passes will include stages, but developing new stages won’t get any cheaper. Will the pass price increase to cover this? Or will the messaging be clearer, making it explicit that the pass includes characters only?
But has this come too late? I ask because, if you look at community hubs for fighting games, the general sentiment around Tekken 8 isn’t nearly as positive as it was when the game first launched. Players are now more skeptical, having experienced a few rough patches. Whether it’s the controversy over the lack of penalties for rage quitting or the recent Tekken World Tour ruling that disqualified a Chinese player, opinions are certainly mixed.
If issues like these continue, how long can the goodwill last? Tekken 8 is by no means a bad game—in fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s a fantastic game. However, it sometimes seems weighed down by shortsighted decisions from those at Bandai Namco who aren’t directly involved with the development team. In a recent interview, Harada himself expressed concern that once he and other senior Tekken staff depart, the balance of power between the development side and the corporate side could shift. Perhaps we’re already getting a glimpse of what that future might look like.
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