Harada moves up in the tier list

Katsuhiro Harada, who has overseen the popular fighting game series Tekken since its inception, has been promoted to General Manager of Bandai Namco. The likeable studio head, well known for his dry wit and slick selection of sunglasses, announced his new position on Twitter.



In his new role as GM, Harada will oversee the future of multiple Bandai Namco franchises. These include Ace Combat, Soul Calibur and Dark Souls, among others. Of course, Harada will still have Tekken under his wing, but his approach will be a little more hands-off going forward. Harada will also remain the supervisor of the company's esports strategy team, overseeing global competitive events. Busy dude.



As for the future of Tekken, Bandai Namco's Michael Murray will now helm the series going forward. Murray, who has been with the franchise since Tekken 4, will now produce future sequels, as well as being involved with merchandising and the competitive scene. The jokes have already started up that Murray is the new go-to guy to bombard with character requests and other wishes, always a heavy load for Harada in the past.



Tekken 7 launched in Japan back in 2015, before making the leap overseas a long two years later, arriving on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Since its global launch, it has remained one of the most popular competitive fighting games on the pro circuit.