The Tekken series is one of the longest-running series in the video game world, with it being a fighting epic that holds the Guinness World Record for having the longest continuous story too. There have been eight mainline instalments and countless spinoffs too, and following the arrival of the well-received Tekken 8, fans are wondering if we'll ever see a major return to the spinoff format.
Specifically, many are hoping that a third Tekken Tag Tournament will be made at some point, but this seems incredibly unlikely, especially when considering producer and executive game director Katsuhiro Harada's recent comments to Destructoid.
The Tekken veteran has stated that we shouldn't expect Tekken Tag Tournament 3 because it frankly doesn't make sense any more. He notes that it'd be more fitting to feature it as a mode in an existing or future mainline instalment instead, as otherwise we probably shouldn't expect Tag Tournament to return in the developer's lifetime.
"It's quite difficult because, you know, Tag is something I've always thought of more recently, and [I feel] like it should be some kind of mode within a Tekken 9 or 8 or whatever you want to call it."
Harada continues: "If we start now [to make a Tekken Tag Tournament 3] by the time that they're no longer popular, that's when Tag Three would come out.
"We have so many more moves than a typical 2D fighter. So much more work is involved in trying to do that with a 3D game...It's probably a ways off if it were to happen, and so probably not in my working lifetime. So that's something that the next generation can decide."
Seems like a good compromise, no? Instead of having a new standalone Tag Tournament game, Tekken 8 or eventually 9 could be enhanced with a Tag Tournament mode as its featured offering. What do you think?