Tekken 8's Online Stability Surprises Developers During Closed Beta

The last closed beta test for the upcoming fighting game Tekken 8 occurred from July 21st to July 24th. This pre-release build gave select players a taste of what to expect when the full game releases on January 26, 2024. However, the beta was more than just a demo - it provided valuable data to the developers regarding the stability of online play.

Tekken series director Katsuhiro Harada and producer Michael Murray expressed surprise at the smooth online connectivity during the closed beta test. They had anticipated issues with long-distance matches, especially between North America's east and west coasts. However, user feedback indicated stable connections even in these challenging scenarios.

"I was so surprised that there weren’t bigger problems during the network test," said Murray. "Everything went pretty smoothly. No major outages of the server or anything like that, which was a big surprise."

With it being the first time opening up the game to so many worldwide players, the developers had expected to encounter more technical hurdles. The lack of major bugs or server crashes was a positive sign for the game's online infrastructure.

The closed beta also provided interesting data about character popularity. For instance, returning fighter Jun Kazama was only the 6th most used character out of 16. Given her long absence from the series since Tekken 2, this was a surprise.

Of course, Bandai Namco will continue optimizing Tekken 8's online performance and mechanics right up until its full release. But based on these beta results, fans can expect a smooth online experience when the game launches next January. It was an encouraging test run for the developers that exceeded their connectivity expectations.

Tekken 8 closed beta is scheduled on October 20-23, and its registration is ongoing.