Tekken Director Explains Why There Was A Feud With Dead Or Alive

Longtime Tekken lead Katsuhiro Harada has explained his long and complicated history with Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki. In a lengthy tweet, Harada explains that he wanted nothing to do with the feud between the two fighting game series, and says this was set up by Itagaki to further Dead or Alive’s brand.

He further claims that Itagaki was personally rude to him, and tried to gather intel on the goings on at Namco so that Dead or Alive could compete with Tekken. This was only compounded by the attacks Itagaki would make against Tekken in the press, which Harada was told not to respond to.

Harada Says There Was A Feud Between Himself And Itagaki

He says that the beef was quashed in 2008, but lasted for more than a decade

The full breakdown of Harada’s relationship with Itagaki, from Harada’s perspective, is quite long but well worth the read. Here, he says that their first meeting was incredibly amicable, as they shared drinks with other game developers at an event. However, he says things took a turn when Itagaki learned that Harada was his junior at Waseda University. From then on, Harada says that Itagaki was rude whenever they spoke.

Then, still in the 1990s, Harada says that Itagaki began a media campaign of hating on the Tekken series to further Dead or Alive. Harada claims that his superiors told him not to respond, but Itagaki continued regardless. An example of this tactic can be seen in the tweet that Harada is quoting.

“Looking back, it’s clear that under these circumstances, there was absolutely no chance for Mr. Itagaki and me to develop a friendly relationship,” Harada remembers. “In fact, during those ten years, I spent much of my time wondering, ‘Why is Mr. Itagaki so fixated on targeting and attacking me?'”

During their beef, Harada recalls being personally invited to Temco to try out the then-unreleased Dead or Alive 2. He gave positive feedback but also claims that this was done to give Dead or Alive the upper hand.

“Later, I learned from a former Team Ninja member that after my visit, Itagaki returned to the development floor and declared, ‘Today, we beat Tekken,'” he says. “He likened the relationship between DOA and Tekken to warfare.”

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Finally, Harada claims that the rivalry came to an end in 2008, when Itagaki left Temco and invited him out to dinner. At this dinner, Harada remembers Itagaki referring to him as his “comrade-in-arms”, and admitted that he “never had any grudge” against Namco or Tekken. He says that Itagaki apologises for his approach.

“After that, every year-end, I’d receive a drunken phone call from him, which became something of a tradition,” he concludes. “That said, I haven’t received one in the last few years, come to think of it.”

Of course, this is just one side of the story, but it would explain Itagaki’s conduct during this time. We’ll have to wait and see if Itagaki responds in some form, but at the very least, it seems that the two aren’t on bad terms anymore.

Bandai Namco Entertainment

Date Founded

March 31, 2006

Parent Company

Namco Bandai

Subsidiaries

Bandai, BNE Entertainment, Bandai Namco Studios

Headquarters

Tokyo, Japan