Tekken 8 teased with chaotic trailer, leaving fans confused and excited

Tekken 8
(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

Tekken 8 has seemingly been announced in the wildest way possible.

Yesterday at the EVO 2022 tournament in Las Vegas, the clip just below debuted, showing Tekken series mainstay Kazuya Mishima dumping a body off a cliff. Then the classic pixelated clip switched to photorealistic graphics, with Kazuya smiling menacingly at the camera and the ominous words "get ready" appearing on the screen.

The livestream that the new clip debuted on then cut back to the commentary booth, and chaos ensued. Not only were the three hosts losing their damn minds, but none other than Tekken series director Katsuhiro Harada ran onto the stage from the right, wordlessly hyping up the brand new announcement of Tekken 8, and then departing without saying a single word.

The nature of the footage has actually got plenty of people incredibly confused. Many on Twitter are openly questioning whether this new announcement is even an announcement of Tekken 8 at all, or if it could be something else entirely, while others are too busy celebrating the chaotic nature of the new reveal trailer.

The incredibly brief nature of the new announcement was likely designed to get people talking online, and it's done exactly that. The whole thing would've been wild enough without the appearance of the series director himself straight after, but Harada popping up on a livestream to celebrate (?) the trailer has only added fuel to the fire.

One thing worth mentioning is that Tekken 8 was actually mentioned in the now-infamous Nvidia leak back in September 2021. Thousands of games were leaked from Nvidia's database, and while the company claimed the listings were merely speculative, several high-profile listings have been confirmed by developers since, including Resident Evil 4 remake, Dragon's Dogma 2, Kingdom Hearts 4, and more. 

Check out our guide to the best fighting games if you're looking to get stuck into something between now and Tekken's eventual release.

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.