Tekken’s Katsuhiro Harada Says Big Tournament Money Skips Revenue

Executive producer of the Tekken franchise, Katsuhiro Harada, said at Evo France that the Tekken fighting game market is expanding, but the surge in tournament streaming money is not reflected in Tekken game revenue, and is not reaching developers.

Harada said commercial indicators across fighting games have risen in recent years. He explained that participation has increased compared to what some previously called the genre’s golden age, noting “an increase in the participation of the [genre] as a whole recently.” What stands out, he said, is how tournaments and influencer streams have grown into major revenue drivers independent of game sales.

Tekken’s Katsuhiro Harada on How Free Tournament Licensing Limits Revenue

Harada pointed to major companies investing heavily in tournament advertising and influencers “making big money” from streaming competitive events.

However, he stated that the revenue for fighting games “doesn’t reflect any of this,” partly because most tournaments are licensed for free. Some organizers have begun experimenting with pay-per-view formats, which he said could indicate how the business model evolves.

At Evo France, Bandai Namco also introduced ‘Miary Zo,’ a new Tekken 8 character. Harada said creating a new fighter takes over a year because the team begins with no initial concept. For Zo, developers traveled to Madagascar to research local culture before building the character, a process that typically lasts 12 to 18 months.

Tekken 8, released in Feb. 2024, sold more than 3M copies in its first year. Harada’s remarks underline a widening gap between the financial success of competitive streaming and traditional game revenue as the fighting genre continues to scale.