Tekken 8 is looking like it’s shaping up to take 3D fighters into the next generation, and we’re finally starting to see a lot more of what the final package will have to offer.
Producer Michael Murray recently sat down with IGN to showcase the first footage of the Fight Lounge that’ll serve as the open lobbies for Tekken 8.
At first glance, it’s hard not to think about Street Fighter 6’s Battle Hub, but Bandai Namco is apparently looking to provide a more open area with more activities to do.
Moreover, the lobbies were built to harken back to the arcade era with the team incorporating some of their favorite aspects of multiple game centers from around the world.
“It’s kind of like a love letter to arcade culture,” said Murray via IGN. “I’m old enough where I was able to experience that firsthand at various locations. First, when I studied abroad in Japan, I went to all the arcades and all the titles, all the fighting games you could ever want to play were there. It was amazing.
Each had their own unique atmosphere. So the aesthetic look of it, you know that that made its way into this. The director, Nakatsu, and myself, we looked at various major arcades, even one of ours in London, the Namco one, which was really impressive.”
Inside the arcade area, there’s a multitude of cabinets to sit down at for matches or to spectate others (or apparently even fight their ghosts if busy) while the walls are decorated with some other Namco nostalgia favorites like Pac-Man as well as things like pinball machines and token exchanges.
It seems players will interact with the Fight Lounge by running around with the same custom avatar used in Tekken 8’s new Arcade Quest mode, which was also recently shown off in more detail as well.
Outside the Battle Area is Iron Fist Outfitters where avatars can be further customized by purchasing items with the in-game Fight Money earned.
Heading to the outdoors from there, you’ll find the beach area which includes some spots to chill, but more importantly, a dedicated section for Tekken Ball.
Murray also goes into more detail regarding their new approach to Ghost Battles by showing how the AI can more quickly learn to play like the individual by just analyzing a match or two to start.
He confirms you’ll be able to challenge the ghosts of other players you meet in the Fight Lounge, but doesn’t say if that applies to searching for users outside of the mode too.
One interesting thing to note they don’t really mention is that you can see if a player is on console or PC with crossplay given the icons by their names.
You can check out more of the new big feature for Tekken 8 in IGN’s video below.