While, monetarily, fighting games are probably at their apex the “big three” of modern day fighting games (Capcom’s Street Fighter 6, Netherrealm Studios’ Mortal Kombat 1, and Bandai Namco’s Tekken 8) all have some pretty blatant issues in terms of gameplay and monetization that their respective communities are all hoping they fix. If you’ve been on social media at all the past day, then you’ll know that instead of fixing issues players had with the game, Bandai Namco instead have seemingly doubled down on many of the complaints fans had with Tekken 8 in its Season 2 patch.
Tekken 8’s Season 2 update has some pro players and streamers threatening to quit the game unless it gets reverted or hotfixed
Steam reviews have plummeted, with recent reviews being Mostly Negative pic.twitter.com/RLJlykCXyz
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) April 1, 2025
Tekken 8’s first season was defined by incredibly powerful offense from the Heat System, and its top tiers were able to abuse this system to its absolute fullest with unbridled aggressive gameplay being the best way to see results. Now, as of Season 2, instead of toning aggressive gameplay down Bandai Namco have seen fit to emphasize it, only now instead of only the top tiers being hardcore 50/50 machines the entire cast now has access to this. These changes have led to some absurd situations like 15 second rounds or constant pressure that lasts about that long too while dealing chip damage.
A typical Tekken 8 season 2 offensive sequence
byu/H0TZ0NE inTekken
It’s gotten to the point that Tekken 8’s recent reviews on Steam are mostly negative and as social media will show you, the reaction is echoed across pretty much every platform from people who play the game at any level higher than drunk casuals.
The reaction to season 2 has been nothing short of catastrophic
byu/H0TZ0NE inTekken
The absolute lack of defensive options and the emphasis on stronger Heat interactions makes this patch feel like an April Fool’s joke and, to be fair, that would be really funny (I guess we’ll see tomorrow) but considering this patch just tanked Tekken 8’s word of mouth in one fell swoop that’s unlikely to be the case.
