The producer of Bandai Namco’s upcoming Tekken 8 has confirmed that the game will introduce two important features to its online infrastructure. Tekken 8 is highly anticipated among the fighting game crowd, following the last mainline game’s end-of-launch support last year. To get fans ready for the next fight in the long-running franchise, Bandai Namco has revealed some details about the upcoming fighting game. The series’ producer and director, Katsuhiro Harada, recently shared more information about its online capabilities.
Many fans know that Harada is quite open and communicative with his audience. This can be seen on the Tekken producer’s Twitter account, where he answers a lot of fan inquiries. However, like PlatinumGames titular leader Hideki Kamiya, he’s somewhat notorious for provoking fans and having little patience for those who ask questions repeatedly. However, he’s open to those interested in his game and will answer genuine questions, such as confirming Tekken 8: rollback netcode and crossplay’s two online features.
Crossplay is an important feature in multiplayer games that allows players to play against each other regardless of the system they own the game on. Harada confirmed that Tekken 8 will have crossplay after being asked about it on Twitter. He also recalled that he tried several times in the past to join crossplay, but was rejected each time due to competition between the PlayStation and Xbox brands, as well as P2P safety concerns. The companies also aren’t actively supporting third-party cross-play, he noted, saying the hurdle is also “pretty high.”
Another important online feature that Tekken 8 will include when it launches is rollback netcode. With many fighting games these days living or dying by their online infrastructure, rolling back the netcode helps reduce lag and latency during online matches. Several fighting games have already switched to using it, such as the upcoming Street Fighter 6, Guilty Gear and King of Fighters XV, just to name a few. Harada also confirmed the feature in response to an inquiry posted after the crossplay tweet.
Some of his other replies on Twitter referenced some of the Tekken producer’s famous memes, such as “shut up and sit down”, and “don’t ask me**”, especially when he answered questions he’s been asked many times in the past . There are still some insightful answers, such as what to expect from the Tekken 8 roster, as well as confirmation that the game is still in closed alpha testing.
Tekken 8 is in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.