TEKKEN's Harada Details Why He Thought Americans Hated Him

Katsuhiro Harada has had an illustrious 31-year career in the video game industry, and is well-known for his work as a creator, director, and voice actor for TEKKEN and Soul Caliber, two fighting games that were massively influential in Western culture, but thanks to a slight language barrier and misinterpreted slang, Harada once thought Americans wanted to beat him up.

Harada, who is now the CEO of the newly-founded, VS Studio, recently shared some hilarious and heartwarming insight into what it was like getting familiar with American slang.

In 2019, when Harada revealed the African-American Tekken character, Leroy Smith, also known as the GrandMaster of Drip, the Black community attempted to show Harada their appreciation for the well-designed character by inviting him to a cookout—a gesture that signifies you are now considered a close friend.

Tekken fans also started spamming the goat emoji, and telling Harada he was indeed the G.O.A.T for helping bring Leroy Smith to life, but unfortunately, Harada wasn't familiar with these terms yet and began to worry that Americans were instead insulting him: "Even though I thought I knew America pretty well, I genuinely wondered if I’d somehow pressed some invisible cultural button that I wasn’t supposed to touch."

Harada explained he had seen gamers using the term "cooked" when describing something that is bad in some way or another, and assumed that being invited to a cookout meant they wanted to roast him or beat him up.

So, for a brief moment in time, Harada actually thought, “Man… getting our characters accepted by Americans is really difficult. They might actually be even more sensitive than Japanese people in many ways. We need to study their culture much more.”

Fortunately, it was clarified to Harada that a cookout is a gathering of close-knit friends and family, and being invited to one is considered to be a big compliment. Fans began sending Harada pictures of BBQ ingredients and equipment in an attempt to entice him to join the festivities. "Looking back now, I honestly regret not immediately flying to the U.S. and accepting an invitation to one of those community cookouts," said Harada.

Even though Harada momentarily thought the Black community's attempts to thank him were actually a threat, the kind gesture ended up leaving a lasting impression on him: "Of course, I can’t claim that I fully understand what you call Black culture. But if we’re talking about the parts that have genuinely influenced me, the cookout story is certainly one of them."

What's Next for Harada?

Harada left Banai Namco in 2025 and is now the CEO of VS Studio, which is a subsidiary of Japanese video game developer SNK Corporation. VS Studio is still brand-new, and there's not much information available in terms of what the studio is currently working on, but there's definitely a good chance the first title we see from them could be a fighting game with Harada being at the helm.

Whatever their first project turns out to be, it appears this chapter of Harada is truly a meaningful one. Harada explains he asked himself the question, "How should I spend the time I have left as a developer?"

While we are still in the dark in terms of what exactly Harada and his team are working on, it's safe to say the first game out of the gate for VS Studio has a good chance of being a winner.

Systems

Released December 9, 1994

ESRB t

Developer(s) Namco

Publisher(s) Namco

Engine Unreal Engine

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