Katsuhiro Harada has had an impressive career of 31 years in the video game industry, and is well known for his work as the creator, director, and voice actor of TEKKEN and Soul Caliber, two fighting games that had a great influence on Western culture, but because of the small language barrier and poor translation, Harada wanted to hit the Americans.
Harada, who is now the CEO of the newly founded VS Studio, recently shared some fun and emotional insights into what it was like to become familiar with American slang.
In 2019, when Harada portrayed the African-American Tekken character, Leroy Smith, also known as the GrandMaster of Drip, the Black community tried to show Harada their appreciation for the well-crafted character by inviting him to a cookout—an act that means he’s now considered a close friend.
Tekken fans also started spamming the goat emoji, and telling Harada that he really was the GOAT for helping Leroy Smith survive, but unfortunately, Harada was not yet familiar with these words and began to worry that Americans were insulting him: “Even though I thought I knew America well, I wondered if I somehow pushed the culture button to make it invisible.”
Harada explained that he had seen gamers use the word “cooked” when describing something bad in some way, and assumed that being invited to a chef meant that they wanted to roast him or beat him up.
So, a moment later, Harada actually thought, “Man… getting our characters accepted by Americans is really difficult. They may be more sensitive than Japanese people in many ways. We need to learn their culture more.”
Harada was not familiar with these terms yet and began to worry that the Americans were insulting him.
Fortunately, it was made clear to Harada that a cook is a gathering of close friends and family, and being invited by one is considered a great compliment. Fans started sending Harada pictures of BBQ ingredients and equipment trying to entice him to join the festivities. “Looking back now, I honestly regret not flying to the US sooner and accepting the invitation to one of those community chefs,” Harada said.
Although Harada momentarily thought that the Black community’s efforts to thank him were actually a threat, the act of kindness ultimately left a lasting impression on him: “Of course, I can’t say that I fully understand what you call Black culture. But if we talk about the parts that have really influenced me, cooking is certainly one of them.”
What’s next for Harada?
Harada left Banai Namco in 2025 and is now the CEO of VS Studio, a subsidiary of Japanese video game developer SNK Corporation. VS Studio is still brand new, and there isn’t much information available about what the studio is currently working on, but there’s a good chance that the first title we see from them will be a fighting game with Harada at the helm.
Regardless of their first project, it seems that this chapter of Harada really makes sense. Harada explains that he asked himself the question, “How should I use the time I have left as a developer?”
While we’re still in the dark about what exactly Harada and his team are working on, it’s safe to say that the first game out of the VS Studio gate has a good chance of winning.
- Released
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December 9, 1994
- The ESRB
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t
- Engineer(s).
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Namco
- Publisher
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Namco
- Engine
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The Unreal Engine
