Tekken 8 costed to develop almost three times more than its predecessor, and development costs have been skyrocketing for a while, according to series creator Katsuhiro Harada.
Responding on X/Twitter to a discussion on microtransactions, the creator of the Tekken series revealed that development costs are now ten times what they were back in the 90s, mostly due to the addition of online features. Keeping servers online and providing continual support is costly, Harada continued, and if they did nothing to cover these costs, Tekken 8 would stop running in a few months.
Development costs are now 10 times more expensive than in the 90’s and more than double or nearly triple the cost of Tekken 7. Even the Fight Lounge servers are costly to maintain. In the past there weren’t so many specs and there wasn’t online. Plus they didn’t have such high…
— Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) February 21, 2024
Ballooning development costs is something we have heard multiple times in the past. Alongside the massive rounds of layoffs of the past few weeks, they are a clear indication of the issues the gaming industry is facing as a whole, issues that require some massive changes to bring it back on track for all those involved in it.
Tekken 8 is now available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S worldwide. You can learn more about one of the best entries in the series by checking out my review.
Featuring cutting-edge visuals for fighting games and exceptional learning tools, Tekken 8 stands out as one of the best releases in the fighting game genre over the last few years. While the netcode is generally acceptable, regrettably, it falls short of replicating the seamless offline experience, a drawback that significantly affects the overall experience way more than the limited amount of single player content and somewhat diminishes the effectiveness of the game’s outstanding learning tools, particularly for those unable to engage in offline multiplayer matches.
