Fighting game fans have a lot to look forward to in the next few months. Capcom's Street Fighter 6 is already out and getting great reviews. Mortal Kombat 1 is due out in September. Now Bandai Namco is preparing for the release of Tekken 8 with an upcoming closed network test.
The game's official website has the info on what this special test is all about:
The purpose of the Closed Network Test is to test the network and monitor the gameplay experience of TEKKEN 8. We aim to obtain feedback on the quality of the network and gameplay. We would greatly appreciate it if all participants could provide feedback through an online survey that we plan to send out via email after the Closed Network Test. Your valuable opinions will be used as a reference for adjustments to the battle system.
If you are interested in signing up for the test, you can do so at the official Tekken site until June 27. The test will be open first for PlayStation 5 owners from July 21-24. The test will go live again from July 28-31 for the PS5, the Xbox Series X and S consoles, and the PC via Steam.
The test will include 16 characters from the full version of Tekken 8:
- Kazuya
- Jin
- King
- Jun
- Paul
- Law
- Jack-8
- Lars
- Xiaoyu
- Nina
- Leroy
- Asuka
- Lili
- Hwoarang
- Bryan
- Claudio
The test will also include five stages from the full game. It will include online ranked match support for up to a ranking of 10, and there will be cross platform matchmaking.
There will be some changes in Tekken 8's gameplay during the test:
- "Heat Energy" has been removed.
- The upper limit (heat activation time) of "Heat Timer" will change depending on how the heat is activated.
- The "Heat Smash" command has been standardized for all playable characters.
Bandai Namco has yet to announce a release date for Tekken 8, but it's likely that it could launch before the end of 2023.
