Tekken Creator Katsuhiro Harada Now Heading Bandai Namco Esports Division
By Jason Fanelli ·
The longtime FGC figurehead has added the growth of Bandai Namco's esports division to his growing to-do list, a task that just recently became even more difficult thanks to outside forces.
Bandai Namco’s growing portfolio of esports-ready titles, particularly fighting games, has led the company to turn to a familiar face to lead its burgeoning esports division: Tekken creator Katsuhiro Harada.
Harada made the announcement of his promotion via Twitter and TwitLonger, and we have provided the TwitLonger text below:
To everyone in the "DRAGON BALL FighterZ", "TEKKEN", and "SoulCalibur" community.
— Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) December 27, 2018
Please read & refer to the following link. Thanks!!!https://t.co/wE62pUOYPa
ドラゴンボールファイターズ、鉄拳、ソウルキャリバーコミュニティのみなさんへ、上記リンクを読んで頂ければ幸いです。
“To everyone in the "DRAGON BALL FighterZ", "TEKKEN", and "SoulCalibur" community.
I wanted to notify everyone that I have become the leader and supervisor of the BANDAI NAMCO Fighting Game eSports Strategy team today (Of course, I'll continue producing the game as well).
And first I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who held and/or participated in various tournaments this year.
We at BANDAI NAMCO are committed to expand the horizons of both tournament and community scenes of these 3 franchises.
We are already planning to have as many official tournaments as possible for next year—while continue supporting tournaments held by the community.
Furthermore, we are dedicated to figure out ways where we can assist tournaments and community activities in the future.
If you have any questions or inquiries about holding or participating in a tournament in your area, please contact the local BANDAI NAMCO office in your respective region.
(※The conditions and languages might differ between areas, so contacting your local BANDAI NAMCO offices is highly recommended.)
We will continue to bring you the ultimate experience through BANDAI NAMCO Fighting Games next year.
Thank you.”
This new position comes to Harada at a tumultuous time for Bandai Namco, as one of its most prominent fighting games Dragon Ball FighterZ was just barred from appearing at EVO Japan 2019. There has been some speculation about why this happened -- longtime FGC YouTube Maximilian does a good job addressing the issue here -- and whether or not this will apply to regions outside of Japan. Hopefully Harada can be the driving force in fixing whatever the snafu is and DBFZ can continue to grow in the fighting game community.
For more, check out our guide to New Game Plus for a game Bandai Namco had a major hand in developing, Super Smash Bros Ultimate.