Gamescom 23: Tekken 8 officially dated, arrives in January 2024

Originally thought to be landing this year for consoles and the PC, Bandai Namco’s Tekken 8 will instead hit just after the holiday season.

The king will return

It would have been incredible to see Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Tekken all have new sequels in one year, but alas it’s just not meant to be. Coming off of beta testing, Bandai Namco has announced a release date for the hotly anticipated eighth Tekken game, and it’s January 26th, 2024.

Along with that slightly disappointing news though, came a cavalcade of news. The brief included new character reveals and a new mode called Arcade Quest. That will task players with creating a cute lil avatar who will travel to different arcades in the game’s world, learning new moves and techniques.

Confirmed characters, and that Arcade Quest

If you missed it there, and you may have since it was pretty fast-paced, Kuma, Leo, Shaheen, Steve, Dragunov, and Yoshimitsu have all been confirmed additions for Tekken 8’s 32 character roster. Bandai Namco also promises that you’ll be able to do quite a bit with those fighters, as the game will feature a customization suite that should be fairly full-featured. According to the publisher, players will be able to change “change each part’s colours as well as the size and position of accessories” for existing characters. So you can kind of make the squad your own.

As for the Arcade Quest, it’s an interesting concept that’s based on the real-life campaign to become a pro gamer. Here’s the skinny on that:

The reveal showcased the Arcade Quest – a completely new single player mode that will prove the ultimate training ground, tapping into the franchise’s roots to introduce a new way to play and polish skills. In this mode, players can create and customize their own avatar and “visit” different arcades to participate in matches designed to improve their play and teach new techniques. As players progress through the story, they will continue to develop and grow stronger along with their avatar and hone their skills against tougher and tougher opponents in a story not too different to how some real players got into esports.

Bandai Namco press release

Again, including all of the above, Tekken 8 will arrive on January 26th, 2024. Pre-orders, as you might imagine, are open now, and will come in three flavors. Fans can grab the base copy of the game for sure, but there’s also a Deluxe and Collector’s Edition to pick from.

Here’s how those shake out:

Pre-orders for the Standard Edition will include the base game, once available, and grant players the Paul Phoenix set as an Avatar Costume. PlayStation 5 players will receive the Mokujin and Testujin Avatar skins. The Deluxe Edition includes all standard items along with the Playable Character Year 1 Pass, which unlocks four characters, released after the game’s launch, as well as the Kinjin Avatar skin. It also includes the Gold Suit Pack of playable character costumes for all 32 characters, letting players bring the bling to their battles. The Ultimate Edition includes all content and bonuses of the Deluxe edition, along with Avatar skins for Kazuya, Jin, and Jun, as well as 32 patterns of classic TEKKEN t-shirt sets for players to personalise their avatars and perhaps relive past memories from this legendary franchise.

Bandai Namco press release