Tekken 8 game director Kohei Ikeda leaves Bandai Namco after 20 years

Kohei Ikeda — game director and chief producer on Tekken 8, better known to fans as Nakatsu — has announced he's leaving Bandai Namco. He posted the news on X in both English and Japanese, confirming he's moving on after more than two decades with the company and plans to "continue to take on new challenges" in game development.

Ikeda spent over 20 years at Bandai Namco, working primarily on the Tekken series but also contributing to Soulcalibur IV and the Project X Zone titles. He didn't give a specific reason for leaving, but his statement was warm rather than bitter: "Becoming part of the company I had always admired — Namco — was truly a dream come true," he wrote. "Dedicating ourselves wholeheartedly to game development together remains one of the most cherished experiences of my life."

His departure is the third major exit from the Tekken team in roughly a year. Assistant director Yohei Shimbori left in August 2025, and Katsuhiro Harada — the longtime face of Tekken and executive director — followed shortly after, recently revealing a new studio he's building in partnership with SNK. Tekken 8 is still selling well and has active DLC support lined up, including the recently announced Yujiro Hanma guest character, but the game has drawn sustained criticism from veteran players over its gameplay direction.

With Ikeda gone, the question of who leads Tekken next is wide open — and three high-profile departures in a year makes it hard not to wonder what's happening inside that team.