As Tekken 7 ends its 5th year after the game's initial release in Japan, the question arises: Why hasn’t Namco moved on to Tekken 8, and when are they going to? The team has continued to work on the balance and content of Tekken 7 and has just released season 4. With each season, the possibility of an Tekken 8 release gets pushed further and further away.
Looking at the release schedule of titles, not counting spin-offs like the Tekken Tag games, each title has taken progressively longer than the last to release. Following that trend, the absolute earliest Tekken 8 would be expected would be sometime in 2021, with a later release being more likely. There are several reasons for Namco to hold off on creating Tekken 8 at this time, and it's not just because it takes a lot of practice for players to get good and compete professionally in Tekken, and frequent releases would make this much more difficult.
There seems to be little incentive to introduce a new game to the Tekken series at this time. Usually, the main reason to release a new game in a series is to introduce new mechanics, or redesign old ones. Tekken 7 brought the tailspin mechanic and added new ways to use the Tekken 6 rage function. In the recent seasons of Tekken 7, the developers have added new moves for the entire cast, as well as added new characters to the already impressive roster. With these changes keeping Tekken 7 fresh and interesting for fans, there has been little incentive to push for a new title.
Why Tekken 8 Is Probably Not Coming Soon
With the long development cycle, and the amount of Tekken 7, a new release seems to be far in the future. There haven’t been any official announcements about the development of Tekken 8. In order for the series to continue to see success, they would have to make sure the next title is a vast improvement over the previous one. Releasing a new Tekken would make it the primary tournament game, and a rushed sequel would be a huge detriment to the series as a whole.
A fighting game’s success is heavily influenced by its tournament scene. Tekken 7 has had massive success competitively, both in the world tour and in EVO. With the new balance and content that has come in each season, Tekken 7 continues to be one of the top fighting games to compete in. A new game would take the place of Tekken 7 in major tournaments, meaning it would have to be a much better game.
With Tekken 7 doing so well competitively right now, it doesn’t make sense for the team to release a new title yet. There are usually long periods between releases, and each season in Tekken 7 extends that window. Tekken 8 would have to introduce new mechanics and make sure that it would sur Tekken 7 in the competitive scene. Without knowing whether or not Tekken 7 will have a 5th season, or if Tekken 8 is even in the works yet, there’s no good way to know when the game will be coming.
