Heihachi Mishima Lives in Tekken 8 EVO Announcement

M. Bison isn’t the only classic fighting game character who has difficulty staying dead. Before starting the Tekken 8 Top 6 at EVO 2024, Tekken 8 director Katsuhiro Harada and designer Michael Murray were welcomed to the stage to share announcements of new Tekken 8 content that would leave the crowd “super excited.” But just like how Heihachi dances around death, Harada and Murray would have some fun messing with the audience before getting to the main attraction.

The character trailer for the return of Heihachi Mishima was actually the fourth announcement made at EVO 2024 in the Tekken department. You can catch the trailer below from the official Bandai Namco YouTube channel for yourself. The official trailer is the same as the one shown at EVO, except for one missing detail.

Although not part of the official trailer shown above, the EVO announcement ended with a clip of Harada at the EVO Tekken 8 Showcase in 2023 saying in clear English: “Heihachi Mishima is completely dead.” This silly reference was perfect for the lighthearted nature of the rest of the announcements made for Tekken 8 at EVO 2024.

The first trailer of the night was for the Tekken World Tour 2024 Global Finals, which will take place from December 5 to December 8 in Shibuya, Tokyo. This marks the first time the Tekken World Tour will be in Japan, which is exciting news to be sure, even if it’s no character reveal trailer. Next, Lidia Sobieska’s release date was confirmed to be July 25, although players with the Year 1 pass or special editions of the game will get early access on July 22.

After this, Harada and Murray waved good-bye to the crowd, saying that’s all they had to share with everyone. After some audience chanting, Harada and Murray returned to announce… that a photo mode and seaside resort stage would be free for all players starting with the 1.06 update “coming soon.” It’s a shame that the Heihachi trailer that followed ended up overshadowing such a powerful and important announcement, isn’t it? While we tragically don’t have an exact date for the 1.06 update, we do know that Heihachi will officially return some time in Autumn 2024.