Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada is back with his own studio under SNK
Key takeaways
- VS Studio Longtime Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada is back, and this time around he's in full control, leading a Tokyo-based team called VS Studio.
- Harada announced the new studio with a short video discussing how he landed at SNK and laying out his vague creative intentions.
- "We will combine technology, sensibility and world-class expertise to pursue the ultimate," Harada said.
VS Studio Longtime Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada is back, and this time around he's in full control, leading a Tokyo-based team called VS Studio. Harada left Bandai Namco in December after 30 years directing and serving as the hair-gelled, always-shady face of the Tekken franchise, and his departure came as a surprise to the fighting game community. While Harada is in charge of the vision and output at VS Studio, it's a subsidiary of SNK Corporation, Bandai's market rival in the world of fighting games. Scandalous, surely.
Harada announced the new studio with a short video discussing how he landed at SNK and laying out his vague creative intentions. Essentially, he said he wants to focus on making great games with trusted colleagues, and it sounds like VS Studio is still in its infancy, as he encouraged interested developers to apply to work there. In a press release, Harada said the studio's philosophy is, "beyond tradition, crafted to perfection," and "VS" stands for a number of ideas, including Visionary Standard, Volition Shift and Vanguard Spirit.
"We will combine technology, sensibility and world-class expertise to pursue the ultimate," Harada said. "From a free, open and spacious environment, we will generate new ideas and create memorable games."