Katsuhiro Harada Joins SNK to Lead VS Studio and Revive Japanese Game Development

Katsuhiro Harada, who led the Tekken series during his 30 years at Bandai Namco before departing at the end of last year, has joined SNK as head of its Tokyo-based VS Studio. In an interview with VGC, Harada outlined his vision for the studio and outlined what he sees as SNK's competitive advantage in reviving Japanese game development.

Harada emphasized that SNK's leadership genuinely plays and cares about games, a distinction he believes separates the company from many other major Japanese studios. "From my understanding, at the major game development companies in Japan, management people don't play their in-house development games at all, not even prototypes, not even the finalized games," Harada said. "They take part in meetings that involve the P&L or the break-even point, but they don't even play the game builds or provide feedback on those builds. I can guarantee you that none of the Japanese video game industry people in upper management play their games at all."

He clarified he wasn't criticizing this approach but rather highlighting SNK as an exception. "I just wanted to also emphasize that this group, the SNK group, is an exception," Harada said.

Harada sees VS Studio as instrumental in ushering in a revival of the golden era of Japanese games. His appointment signals SNK's commitment to game-focused development and creative leadership at a time when the Japanese gaming industry faces pressure from global competitors.