Tekken is one of the most influential and storied franchises in the history of fighting games, but it's been a long seven years since the last game in the series was released.

That explains some of the enormous hype that was generated when Tekken 8 was announced in September 2022, and we've got all the details about the game right here. If you're on the lookout for other titles, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming games for the PlayStation 5, right here.

Tekken 8 release date

We finally know when to expect Tekken 8 - it's coming on 26 January 2024.

All of its previous trailers had ended without confirming this, but at Gamescom 2023 we finally got an actual date to look forward to.

Tekken 8 platforms

While Sony was the one to take the wraps off Tekken 8, it won't be exclusive to its PlayStation 5 console.

Instead, Tekken 8 will come to all of the PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, making it a fully next-gen title.

The game won't be coming to PS4 or Xbox One and will be too powerful for the Nintendo Switch, which is a good thing for anyone looking to pick up a visually impressive fighting game at some point.

Tekken 8 roster

As with any fighting game, a key question ahead of release will always be what characters, new and old, will be included as playable options.

From the trailers released so far, we've been able to build up a working list of the fighters so far confirmed for Tekken 8.

• Asuka Kazama
• Azucena
• Bryan Fury
• Claudio Serafino
• Devil Jin
• Devil Kazuya
• Dragunov
• Hwoarang
• Jack-8
• Jin Kazama
• Jun Kazama
• Kazuya Mishima
• King
• Kuma
• Lars Alexandersson
• Leo Kliesen
• Leroy Smith
• Lili
• Ling Xiaoyu
• Marshall Law
• Nina Williams
• Paul Phoenix
• Raven
• Shaheen
• Steve Fox
• Yoshimitsu

That's who we know will be playable so far, but we expect that list to expand as the game gets more and more trailers over time.

Tekken 8 trailers

Tekken 8 wasn't even really being heavily rumoured, despite the amount of time that had passed since the last Tekken game, so it was a major and welcome surprise when Sony included it in a State of Play broadcast in September 2022.

It's not even a tiny teaser trailer! It includes a couple of minutes of in-engine footage, which might not be raw gameplay but is close enough to really whet our appetites.

We got another nice look at the game in December 2022, during The Game Awards, showing off a bunch of returning characters and some surprise faces.

Then, in February 2023 Bandai Namco held a livestream with some of the game's developers showcasing the gameplay changes and battle system that it will bring to the table - it's a long video that you can check out on YouTube here.

At the same time, a returning fighter was revealed in the form of Nina Williams - you can see her in action below.

The trickle of information doesn't look like stopping - later that same month we got a quick look at Kazuya Mishima's gameplay, which is as powerful as ever.

The trickle continued in March 2023, when the turn of Paul Phoenix came around in the trailer below.

Tekken 8 story and gameplay

Tekken has a pretty labyrinthine story to follow (as is so often the case in the fighting game genre), but the first trailer to come out for Tekken 8 gives us some solid hints as to its direction.

It features a massive fight between series lead Jin Kazama and his father Kazuya Mishima, who isn't exactly looking his age.

The Devil Gene that both possess is likely to be at the heart of the story once more, with Jin striving to use the Gene for good, despite how difficult it is to control. Of course, there will be a wider cast to interact with as well, so the story will surely be nice and involved.

The next trailer to debut showed off the surprise return of Jin's mother Jun Kazama, who hasn't been playable since Tekken 2. That's a huge bombshell for series fans.

On the gameplay side, while the trailer might look at times like an actual in-game fight, it isn't quite that. This is the game engine in motion, running at 60FPS on the PS5, but it's a slightly cut-scened version of a fight that doesn't quite represent real gameplay.

Still, it looks gorgeous and should be fairly close to how the game will look when you're actually playing it, which is impressive. It also shows off some really meaty attacks that ramp up in power as the fight progresses.

Obviously, subsequent trailers have shown us more comprehensive looks at gameplay, and the game is indeed looking nice and shiny.

The stage being fought on is really dynamic and has a lot of background elements, so keep an eye out for that when you rewatch it, but we'll still have to wait for actual gameplay footage before we can really dig into how Tekken 8 will change the game.