VS Studio adds another Tekken veteran as Kohei Ikeda joins as game designer

Kohei Ikeda, best known as the director of Tekken 8, has joined VS Studio as a game designer. He left Bandai Namco in June after two decades with the company, where he had been part of the Tekken lineage for years. His arrival adds more fighting-game pedigree to a studio already built around familiar names from that scene.

VS Studio launched earlier this year under Katsuhiro Harada as president and CEO, with Yuichi Yonemori serving as CCO. Yonemori has been a designer and director on Tekken since 1999, so the studio is clearly leaning on long-running franchise experience as it gets established. Ikeda said working with former bosses again feels nostalgic and that creating something completely new is energizing.

For developers, the interesting part is less the personnel shuffle itself and more what it suggests about the studio’s direction and hiring strategy. VS Studio is still assembling its team, and Harada has said it wants to combine technology, knowledge, and passionate collaborators to deliver strong experiences worldwide. SNK has invested in the studio, supported its launch, and intends to make it a consolidated subsidiary, which gives the new team a notable backing structure.

The exact project lineup and staffing needs haven’t been disclosed, but Harada is already framing VS Studio as a place for developers who want to tackle fresh challenges. That makes this one worth watching for anyone following fighting-game production, studio formation, or the movement of senior talent into new IP efforts.