Katsuhiro Harada, the former producer of the Tekken series for the past 25 years, has revealed through his official Twitter account that he now the the general producer of all of Bandai Namco’s major IPs. These include Ace Combat, Soul Calibur, Dark Souls, and Tales of. He’ll also continue his duties as an eSports strategy leader:
I’m the general manager of develop & produce of Bandai Namco original titles from this term (ex: TEKKEN, Ace Combat, Tales of, Dark Soul, Soul Calibur, etc..). I’ll also continue with eSports' strategy leader.
Sometimes I might Tweet something unrelated to TEKKEN, but forgive me.— Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) May 9, 2019
As a result of Harada’s promotion Michael Murray has announced his own title change to Tekken producer on his Twitter account. His responsibilities will include Japan, merchandising, and everything else related to the IP. Of course Murray handles this news with his usual humble and kind attitude:
Woke up this morning and reached 10,000 followers! Also, officially from April I am the main producer on the Tekken franchise (including Japan, merchandising, everything related to the IP) so I look forward to further interactions with you all
— Michael Murray (@mykeryu) May 10, 2019
It’s great to see both industry veterans be recognized by Bandai Namco and advance in their respective careers. Harada’s workload is sure to be massive but someone as experienced as him is well-suited to the task. I also love that his love for Tekken will continue to shine through, as he even admits he might tweet more about the franchise in the future.
Recently Harada has spoken out about Tekken X Street Fighter. While he is “emotionally up for it,” “things have changed a lot since 2012,” with Harada suggesting that he would need further approval from Capcom were he to move the project forward.
In other news, Ace Combat 7 has gotten a new trailer showing off the Additional Aircraft DLC, as well as the reveal of the series’ first orchestra concert.
And in more good news, the Tales of series has passed 20 million units sold in total. Bandai Namco is commemorating said achievement with some free digital goodies, as well as a new Twitter campaign.
To close out, let’s heed this legendary piece of advice from Harada himself:
If I did not understand the marketing strategy, TEKKEN would not be the top share of fighting games in series sales.
Shut your mouth and watch streaming or eat delicious pizza.@desupoto— Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) August 4, 2018
The post Katsuhiro Harada Now General Producer of Major Bandai Namco IPs, New Tekken Producer Appointed by Allisa James appeared first on DualShockers.