Bandai Namco to host the Japan Fighting Game Publishers Roundtable

It looks like Tekken chief producer, Katsuhiro Harada, has finally come up with a solution to his Tekken 7 announcement platform dilemma. Just hold a fighting game exclusive event of his own.

Following the scandal involving former Evolution Championship Series (EVO) CEO, Joey "Mr. Wizard" Cuellar, Bandai Namco pulled out of EVO Online 2020, alongside other developers, players, and talent. The CEO was eventually replaced by fellow EVO co-founder, Tony "Ponder" Cannon, and the event canceled. Tekken Producer Michael Murray revealed on Reddit that their team had been "hard at work on stuff to reveal at EVO online," leading up to the cancelation. "I am currently evaluating the best way to do that now," he added.

Harada had also made a similar statement, so fans assumed that Bandai Namco would share its exciting new Tekken news at the next available online gaming event. All eyes turned to Bandai Namco's Play Anime Live and Fun Live events as the likely platforms for the reveal. However, Tekken 7 didn't appear in Fun Live's schedule, and it didn't fit the description of anime to warrant a presence at Play Anime Live either. 

Both events passed with no Tekken reveals, the developer announced today that it would be hosting a joint livestream, named the Japan fighting Game Publishers Roundtable. As the name suggests, it will bring a couple of Japanese fighting game developers together to update their fans on the latest with their games. Arica, Ark System Works, Capcom, SNK, and Koei Tecmo are the studios confirmed to join Bandai Namco in the livestream.

Here's a list of each developer's representatives that will be attending the event;

• Bandai Namco: Katsuhiro Harada - Tekken chief producer

• Bandai Namco: Motohiro Okubo - SoulCalibur VI producer

• Arica: Ryo Nishitani - Fighting EX Layer producer

• Arc System Works: Daisuke Ishiwatari - Guilty Gear general director

• Arc System Works: Kazutoshi Sekine - general battle director

• Capcom: Shuhei Matsumoto - Street Fighter V producer

• Capcom: Takayuki Nakayama - Street Fighter V director

• SNK: Yasuyuki Oda - SNK producer

• SNK: Nobuyuki Kuroki - SNK director

• Koei Tecmo: Yohei Shinbori - Dead or Alive 6 producer

Based upon the list of names, we expect news for Tekken, SoulCalibur, Fighting EX Layer, Guilty Gear, Street Fighter, and Dead or Alive. There could also be some Samurai Shodown information, and if we stretch our hopes even further, possibly something on the next King of Fighters.

While no specifics regarding each developer's plans were shared, announcements for the competitive scene for some of the games mentioned could also be revealed. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, SNK World Championship, SoulCalibur World Tour, Tekken World Tour, and Arc World Tour, were all postponed or canceled. Meanwhile, Capcom pivoted to holding this year's Pro Tour online.

Japan Fighting Game Publishers Roundtable will take place on August 1 at 9:00 am JST (July 31 at 5:00 pm PDT). You can catch the stream on YouTube here.