Tekken 8 – would you be happy with 22 characters? (pic: Bandai Namco)

Tekken 8 only seems to have a character roster of 22 characters, but fans are convinced there’ll be more.

It still lacks any sort of launch window, but fans have been able to try out Tekken 8 for the past week thanks to a closed beta. Or, as it’s unfortunately named, the Tekken 8 CNT (seriously, did no one at Bandai Namco flag that?).

The beta’s still running for another three days, until Monday, but as fans are wont to do, it’s been datamined for any unannounced details regarding the game’s roster.

This has turned up six new characters, that aren’t in the beta or haven’t been announced yet, although calling them new isn’t quite accurate, as they’ve all been in one or more previous Tekken games.

The characters in question are:

Yoshimitsu – a series regular who has a new design with each game

Shaheen – a Saudi Arabian fighter introduced in Tekken 7

Raven – a ninja/secret agent introduced in Tekken 5 (although it could be his superior, Master Raven, from Tekken 7 instead)

Zafina – a female fighter introduced in Tekken 6

Steve – a boxer introduced in Tekken 4

Alisa – an android made to resemble a young woman introduced in Tekken 6

This would bring the current roster up to 22 characters, which is notably smaller than Tekken 7’s launch roster. However, some fans are convinced that this isn’t the complete line-up, either because they think it’s too small or because of the absence of certain recurring characters.

For example, Kuma, Heihachi’s pet bear, is nowhere to be seen despite the fact that he’s been in every Tekken game so far. The same goes for Lee Chaolan who has only ever been absent from one Tekken game – Tekken 3.

Perhaps the most shocking part of the roster so far is that there are still no wholly original characters. Unlike Street Fighter 6, which introduced six brand new fighters to the franchise, Tekken 8 seems to be entirely relying entirely on familiar faces.

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Mortal Kombat 1 is taking a similar approach, although it’s also a franchise wide reboot that’s introducing new takes on established characters. Tekken 8, by comparison, is meant to serve as the conclusion of the series’ ongoing storyline.

It’s also worth remembering that even if Tekken 8 launches with 22 fighters, Bandai Namco undoubtedly has post-launch DLC already in the pipeline.

Tekken 8 is in development for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

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Tekken 8 only seems to have a character roster of 22 characters, but fans are convinced there’ll be more.