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Two years ago, it had been coincidentally decided that Tekken 8 and another fighting game, thought to be Street Fighter 6, were going to be released on the same day. Sensing that this might be an issue, Tekken 8 was delayed by Katsuhiro Harada and Bandai Namco to its current January 2024 date.
Tekken 8 was delayed by six months after the Street Fighter 6 release date
Harada never actually reveals the name of the fighting game in his video diary, merely referring to it as “that title.” However, a delay of approximately half a year would have meant Tekken 8’s original release date was around July 2023. Notably, Street Fighter 6 was released on June 2, 2023, making Capcom’s brawler the most likely candidate for the delay.
The revelation of the identical release dates was realized around two years ago, long before Mortal Kombat 1 had been officially announced. Despite this, the delay to Tekken 8 also pushed it clear of the release date of NetherRealm Studios’ latest fighting game, which was released in September, of course.
Tekken 8 will now be released on January 26, 2024. However, those wanting to get their hands on the game early could have applied to take part in next week’s closed beta test on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, or PC. The beta is due to begin on October 20, although preloads have been available since October 5 on PS5 and October 10 on Xbox and PC.
Some PC players have already managed to crack the beta update and have been playing ahead of time, leading to game footage leaking on social media and fears that early players will have a competitive advantage over others. When players cracked the previous Closed Network Test, Bandai Namco promised to ban those who had accessed the cracked version. So far, the only official comment about the early beta access has been from Harada himself, and I think it’s fair to say he’s slightly frustrated.