If you’ve been wondering why there hasn’t been a Soulcalibur game for six years, Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada has provided a lengthy explanation. While Street Fighter , Tekken , and Mortal Kombat have maintained their position as the biggest fighting game franchises aground, through constant new instalments, one IP which has seemingly fallen by the wayside is Soulcalibur. The series, which began with 1995’s Soul Edge (aka Soul Blade), hasn’t received a new instalment since 2018’s Soulcalibur 6 .
At the time, publisher Bandai Namco described it as a success, but since then the company has not mentioned anything about a follow-up. Tekken boss Katsuhiro Harada, who has also worked on several Soulcalibur titles, has now given a explanation of why the series has gone quiet, suggesting it is due to internal politics within the company itself. Harada addressed the topic in response to a fan, who claimed that if Soulcalibur 2 had a ‘loyal’ and ‘long term’ director like Harada, then sales of that game and the series at large would have increased over time.
He also claimed the popularity of the series has declined due to the amount of changes between titles, such as the mechanics. According to Harada though, the situation with SoulCalibur is more complicated than simply mechanical changes. In a lengthy response, the Tekken director said the departure of key staff behind the franchise, and changes at Bandai Namco, led to it stagnating.
‘This was not simply a matt.