It might not be the Tekken x Street Fighter announcement that we’ve all been waiting for, but Bandai Namco has just announced that Akuma will be playable in its newest update of the game, Tekken 7 – Fated Retribution!
This announcement came in the form of a short trailer, displaying a pact between Heihachi’s wife Kazumi, and a shadowy figure, to kill Heihachi if she dies. He agrees to repay his debt, and the shadowy figure is revealed to be none other than Akuma, cutting to a scene where he stands on a cliff on a darkened landscape, with his trademark “Ten” kanji amassing the background.
He seems to have returned with all of his signature moves from Street Fighter, such as his fireballs, hurricane kicks, dragon punches, and even Shun Goku Satsu, otherwise known as the Raging Demon. Ranged attacks aren’t often used in the Tekken formula, two examples are Alisa Bosconovitch with her rocket punch, and Devil Jin with his laser beams–so this has the potential to change up the game! Also this may give skeptics some insight on how the Street Fighter formula could fit in a Tekken battleground–and my own personal guess is that they’re using this as a “test” of sorts before they finalize the mechanics of Tekken x Street Fighter.
The way this could weave into the storyline is interesting as well. Akuma is depicted as an antagonist in Street Fighter, using the demonic fighting force Satsui no Hado, which is a driving force for his desire for death matches, and his lack of compassion for other beings. Tekken is a 3D fighting game centered around a power struggle for a family owned company (Mishima Zaibatsu) that has the military power to take over the world. Heihachi is the centerpiece of this struggle, being the antagonist of the series, wanting to use the company for such a purpose.
At the moment, Tekken 7 is only available for arcades, although it has been announced for console release (date unknown). Tekken x Street Fighter has been dubbed “under development” by Katsuhiro Harada (Tekken’s producer/director) as of 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, no other updates have been provided since then.