The trio previously worked together on Tekken 7, where all three held senior roles on Bandai Namco's fighting game.
Former Tekken 7 and Tekken 8 director Kohei Ikeda has joined VS Studio, bringing three long-time Tekken developers back together at the new SNK-owned game studio.
Ikeda announced the move on 18 August, sharing a photo with Katsuhiro Harada and Yuichi Yonemori. The move comes less than three months after Ikeda left Bandai Namco following 20 years with the company.
“I’ve joined VS Studio as the next step in my journey,” Ikeda said. “Working on games again with two of my former bosses feels nostalgic in many ways, while at the same time, the excitement of creating something completely new makes every day incredibly fulfilling. I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can create together.” Ikeda is the latest Tekken veteran to join VS Studio after Harada and Yonemori established the game studio earlier this year.
Kohei Ikeda, Katsuhiro Harada, and Yuichi Yonemori's Tekken careers
Ikeda spent two decades at Bandai Namco, beginning his game development career on Soulcalibur IV before moving onto the Tekken series. He worked on battle design for Tekken Tag Tournament 2 before eventually becoming game director on Tekken 7. He continued in senior roles on Tekken 8 as development producer and game director before announcing his departure from Bandai Namco in June.
Harada's history with Tekken stretches back even further. He spent more than 31 years at Bandai Namco and its predecessor Namco, working on the series from the original Tekken in 1994 and going on to serve as director, producer, and executive producer across the franchise. His career also extended beyond Tekken, with credits including SoulCalibur, Pokkén Tournament, and Summer Lesson, alongside broader production, marketing, and management roles at Bandai Namco. In 2019, he was promoted to oversee the company's fighting game esports strategy. Harada announced his departure from Bandai Namco in December 2025, bringing his three-decade career at the company to an end.
Yonemori is another long-time Tekken veteran, with his history on the series stretching back to 1999's Tekken Tag Tournament. His development credits include project director on Tekken Tag Tournament and Tekken 4, as well as game director on Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Tekken 3D: Prime Edition. All three later held senior roles on Tekken 7, where Harada and Yonemori served as Tekken Project directors while Ikeda was game director.
What is VS Studio working on?
VS Studio has yet to announce its first game, and Ikeda's arrival doesn't offer many clues beyond his reference to creating “something completely new” with Harada and Yonemori.
The studio now has plenty of fighting game pedigree, but there has been no confirmation that its first project will be a fighting game. The Tokyo-based game studio was established on 1 May, with Harada serving as president and CEO and Yonemori as chief creative officer. SNK, which is backing the venture, announced plans to make VS Studio a consolidated subsidiary, with the two companies set to collaborate on game development. When the studio was announced in May, SNK's Yasuyuki Oda said that “nothing has been decided yet” about what Harada and his team would create.
Harada described VS Studio's philosophy as “Beyond tradition, crafted to perfection,” while explaining that “VS” carries several meanings. These include its roots in the old “Video game Soft (VS Development Division)” and “the spirit of ‘Versus’ challenging tradition”. Harada added that "By bringing together technology and knowledge, and working with passionate colleagues, we aim to deliver the best gaming experiences to users worldwide.”
So, should the FGC start dreaming about a spiritual successor to Tekken? Nobody truly knows what VS Studio has cooking yet, but with Harada, Ikeda, and Yonemori back together, there will certainly be plenty of eyes on whatever comes next.
