Stop judging games by their sales figures, says Tekken's Katsuhiro Harada: “That’s exactly what you’d expect from someone who’s never actually developed games"

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 13:45:00 +0000

I don't think anybody reading these hallowed pages really judges games by their sales figures, but it's nice to hear that perspective affirmed by no less a Legendary Fightguy than Katsuhiro Harada, the former face of Tekken. Out of the blue, Harada has posted some very nice words about Dark Souls kingpin and FromSoftware president Hidetaki Miyazaki, noting that Miyazaki came late to game development and worked on a bunch of less praised or successful games, before landing it big with Souls.

Harada (who is currently CEO of SNK VS Studio) makes the obvious but eminently repeatable argument that these older, less celebrated projects paved the way for the Souls series. He accuses people who think disparagingly of them of being unable to "appreciate the journey or the growth of the developers themselves". It's not clear who these statements are aimed at, exactly, but Harada does add that he's "NOT talking about the fan community". The whole thing sounds like a rebuke to publisher moneymen who only think as far as the next earnings call.

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Stop judging games by their sales figures, says Tekken's Katsuhiro Harada: “That’s exactly what you’d expect from someone who’s never actually developed games"