Tekken 8 is getting crossplay, and a beta at some point

Tekken 8 director Katsuhiro Harada has confirmed that the upcoming fighting game will feature crossplay.

These days, the two big things you'll find players asking for is rollback netcode (a technique that makes playing online much smoother than it normally would be), and crossplay, so they can easily play with their friends no matter what platform they're on. So if you're a Tekken fan who's looking forward to the eighth instalment, but you play on PlayStation and your friend plays on Xbox, there's some good news: Tekken 8 will have crossplay.

Harada confirmed that himself when asked by a fan about it on Twitter, writing, "Crossplay? Of course I will." Interestingly, he also noted that he tried to get crossplay for Tekken 7 on the previous generation of consoles, but couldn't because of problems between the two big platforms (PlayStation and Xbox). "When the previous generation consoles were released, I had already proposed crossplay between the two platformers. However, at that time, they were at odds with each other over their mutual interests (and P2P security issue) & repeatedly refused."

In a separate tweet, Harada expanded on the problems with crossplay on last gen consoles, saying, "Remember when they announced they were open to crossplay a few years ago? But in reality, they didn't actively support third parties at the time, and the hurdles were actually quite high." The developer did also point out "there are still some problems left, but it will be possible," so there's always the chance the game won't launch with crossplay ready to go.

Harada also seemingly confirmed that a beta for Tekken 8 will be coming at some point in the future, so you'll potentially be able to get your hands on the game before it officially launches.

Tekken 8 is due out sometime this year, but doesn't have an official release date just yet, and will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.