Tekken 8 Interview: Why Harada Lied to Us and How Heihachi Found His Way Back to Tekken 8

ign.com:

Tekken 8 had a big Evo. Bandai Namco announced a new free single player story expansion, and a partnership with Nike and Chipotle. There was an incredible Grand Finals that saw Arslan Ash prove to the world that he is still the king of competitive Tekken. And there was also the return of arguably the most iconic and recognizable character in Tekken Lore – one that we were told was dead dead, like, for realsies this time – Heihachi Mishima.

During the show, I got a chance to sit down with Tekken series director Katsuhiro Harada, producer Michael Murray, and game director Kohei Ikeda, to pick their brains about Heihachi returning to Tekken, how the game is performing six months in, and much more.

So, to start this off, why did you lie to us? How is Heihachi coming back from the dead and what made you want to bring Heihachi back as the third DLC character for Tekken 8?

Katsuhiro Harada, Tekken 8 Series Director: [I] didn't mean to lie or anything about that. It was... Tekken 7 really focused on the story arc between Heihachi and his son, Kazuya, and so, we really wanted to show that kind of final conclusion, and he seemed to die at that point. Right?

But then, after that happened, Tekken 8 was released, and we put a lot of effort into the story and the fans really seemed to be engaged with that. And as that was happening, we were kind of feeling that the players kind of missed him as well. Obviously, we did, too. So, it was kind of decided later on that we would do that.

So, it wasn't a lie. And then, also, the timing is right since it's the 30th anniversary of the franchise. And so, we need all three of the Mishimas. This is the most iconic in the series. Right?

Kohei Ikeda, Tekken 8 Director: So, after the fact, we did kind of make the preparations, you know, Reina, kind of that link that she has to Heihachi. And then, also the logo, the 30th anniversary. If you look closely at it, you can see that it's comprised of Devil's wings, two different styles, but if you take a