It seems as if Bandai Namco will have to deal with some early leaks ahead of Tekken 8’s release as the beta for the game has been cracked. This is because the update (which uses the same data format as the first beta) was pushed nine days in advance, allowing hackers to take advantage of this to get early access to the game’s next beta ahead of everyone else.
The Bandai Namco Esports account issued a statement regarding the Tekken 8 beta, warning that players found accessing it without authorization could face bans from upcoming Tekken World Tour tournaments and other official events.
“Your cooperation in preserving the fairness and competitive integrity of our competition is highly valued”, from the Bandai Namco Esports X account.
This could mean a few things beyond the fact that the hackers get earlier access to the game. For one, some parts of Tekken 8 could be datamined and some leaks about upcoming content ahead of release may surface. Also, this opens the possibility of leaking additional modes or characters that weren’t supposed to be revealed or were meant to be surprise additions for the beta.
Additionally, early access can provide an advantage to some Tekken 8 players, giving them plenty more time to practice with the available characters and experiment with the game’s meta ahead of everyone else. This, in turn, will let them gain experience ahead of players who are eagerly waiting for the beta to come naturally and thus generate a disparity when it comes to player advantage.
Unfortunately, there’s not much that Bandai Namco can do to solve the issue other than ask players not to participate.
Tekken 8 is scheduled to release January 26, 2024.
