Tekken 8 comes out next January with a very literal Arcade Mode
Make your own chibi avatar and explore an actual in-game arcade
This year is shaping up to have a killer line-up of fighting games between the launches of Mortal Kombat 1 and Street Fighter 6, but unfortunately, Tekken 8 won’t be completing the holy trinity as it just got a new release date: January 26th 2024. Not too far away from 2023’s punch-a-thon, though, and to tide us over, publisher Bandai Namco dropped a brand new trailer at Gamescom’s Opening Night Live. Bears, arcades, and lots of kicking down below.
Tekken 8’s newest Arcade Mode is taking its name very literally. Come January, we’ll be able to create our own chibi avatars to run around an in-game arcade and play Tekken 8. Of course! It looks like we’ll be able to join tournaments and gain special cosmetics (hello, cat ears) as a reward. Definitely an unexpected change of pace from the main game (and clearly taking a leaf out of Street Fighter 6's book, too), but the good vibes make it welcome one anyway, especially if there's some other social element with the cute avatars, too.
We also got another look at the series’ long-running family feud, although our loveable heroes resolve problems with the power of fists, not words. This time around the drama centres on the “showdown” between father and son, Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama respectively. Kazuya has his own daddy issues to deal with though, so we can cut him some slack. Or not. Everyone has daddy issues, right? The full roster has 32 different fighters - including the series' favourite bears and a new Peruvian coffee addict - and all their bulging muscles have been gloriously rendered in Unreal Engine 5.
Tekken 8 will come out on January 26th on Steam, alongside Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.
For more of the latest news and previews from Gamescom 2023, head to our Gamescom 2023 hub. You can also find everything announced at Opening Night Live right here.