Despite all the recent tag-team fighting games coming relatively soon,Tekkenwon’t be joining in despite having its own tag-team spin-off series. Tag-team fighters have become the popular option for many franchises to bring their vast rosters to gaming and could be the next fad in the genre as a whole. Some of these franchises are among the largest in recent years.
WithTekkenbeing one of the flagship fighting game IPs, alongsideStreet Fighter, there might have been an idea to capitalize on this potential trend.Tekkenis in a unique position, having its tag-team spin-offthat is reasonably popular. It’s popular enough for fans to at least ask about its potential future, but there doesn’t seem to be much of a future for it.
Tekken Tag Tournament Won’t Be Coming Back
Harada Has Made It Clear A Tekken Tag Fighter Is Too Much Work
Katsuhiro Harada recently spoke in an interview withIGNabout the possible future ofTekken Tag Tournament,but it doesn’t seem to be in the plans. He spoke about the twoTekken Tag Tournamenttitles that have come before andhow 3D fighting games require players to learn a large number of moves due to the extra dimension. In a tag-team setting, these moves practically double, which caused an issue for the audience.
Harada mentioned that the hardcore audience loved this, but thatTekken Tag Tournamentstruggled to gain a casual audience. This makes sense, givenTekken Tag Tournament 2’s poor performance given its budget, whichTekken 7had to save the franchise from. It was also mentioned by Michael Murray,Tekken 8’s producer, that despite him and Harada enjoying theTag Tournamentseries, many fans “couldn’t get a handle on it because of all the knowledge that’s involved.”
So, it seems thatTekken Tag Tournamentwon’t be coming back, but the hopes of tag-team mechanics inTekkenare not unfounded. With Patch 3 starting toaddress thenumerous errors inTekken 8’s Patch 2, it could continuefor years once it’s properly back on track.Harada mentioned that it’s better to have the tag-team mechanics as a mode in an existing game, rather than as a standalone title,which could be inTekken 8’s future.
And Everyone Seems To Be Making Them
Not ruling out tag-team mechanics is probably wise, given that many games will likely use them in the future.Marvel: Tokon Fighting Soulsmade a surprise entrancein State of Play, and with Arc System Works behind it, some serious effort is being put into the project.That’s not to mentionInvincible VSand2XKO, theLeague of Legendsfighting game. All three of these franchises are massive, and all are turning to tag-team fighters.
Tag-team fighters could dominate the genre with these IPs behind them, especially since they are 2D and take a beginner-friendly approach with easier inputs.Tekkenhas never been a series solely for beginners. This makes a dedicatedTag Tournamentpotentially a waste, but perhaps tag mechanics could come back as a separate mode one day.
