SNK just gave Katsuhiro Harada his own development studio

Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada has partnered with SNK to establish VS Studio, a new Tokyo-based development subsidiary focused on high-end game creation. The studio officially incorporated on May 1, and SNK is backing the venture as a consolidated subsidiary.

The company is on a massive run this month. They just revealed that Mr. Karate and Wolfgang Krauser are joining Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. They also dropped a surprise Steam port of the 1995 arcade fighter World Heroes Perfect. Handing the keys to one of the fighting game genre's most prominent figures is a serious escalation of that momentum.

31 years at Namco

Harada joined Namco right out of Waseda University. He steered the Tekken franchise from its 1994 arcade debut all the way through Tekken 8. His career is deeply tied to the evolution of 3D fighting games. Tekken helped define the original PlayStation era, and Harada was instrumental in keeping the series relevant through multiple console generations.

Over three decades, he became the public face of Bandai Namco's fighting game division. He produced titles like Pokkén Tournament and Soulcalibur while acting as a global ambassador for the competitive community at events like EVO.

Now, he wants a change of pace. Harada stated that the move to SNK is about stripping away corporate distractions. He wants to spend the rest of his career actually building games alongside trusted colleagues.

"I wanted a place where I could focus solely on making games with trusted colleagues," Harada said in the announcement video. "A place where we dedicate ourselves to delivering the highest quality."

At least four different acronyms

The "VS" in the studio's name is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

The corporate structure gives Harada an interesting balance of power. He holds the title of Representative Director and CEO of VS Studio. Meanwhile, SNK is providing the financial investment and integrating the team into its broader corporate group. The studio operates out of its own office in the Shinagawa ward of Tokyo.

Building the team

Right now, the studio is entirely in the recruitment phase. They are actively hiring developers to build out the core team. The official website is currently barebones. It only has a mission statement about integrating technology and sensibility to create lasting play experiences.

Harada noted that he has constantly considered how he wants to spend his time as a developer. Setting up a dedicated space away from the massive corporate machinery of his previous employer is his answer to that question.

Neither Harada nor SNK has confirmed what the new team is actually building. Given Harada's history with 3D fighters and SNK's massive catalog of 2D arcade classics, the possibilities are obvious. SNK is already busy reviving its own dormant franchises. Bringing in an outside veteran with decades of global marketing and production experience gives the company a serious heavyweight for whatever project comes next.