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Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada has addressed recent confusion about his views on paid tournament livestreams, firmly stating that the Tekken World Tour (TWT) will not adopt a pay-per-view model.
The confusion started after an interview with The Game Business, where some outlets interpreted Harada’s comments as a sign that TWT might move toward paid streaming. However, Harada took to social media to set the record straight.
The interview that this article is based on is probably the one at this link, right?https://t.co/oCbgCzbHCg
I never said a single word about wanting to turn it into paid content (I only said, “I wonder or interest how that could be achieved?”). In the first place, I am not even… https://t.co/doSNRJErnZ
— Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) November 27, 2025
“I never said a single word about wanting to turn it into paid content (I only said, ‘I wonder or interest how that could be achieved?’),” Harada wrote on X. “In the first place, I am not even positive about monetization.”
Harada explained that his comments were simply expressing curiosity about how paid streaming works, not an endorsement of the idea. He emphasized that TWT is “unlikely to be monetized” and that tournament operations have never been part of Bandai Namco’s business approach. According to Harada, activities like livestreams fall outside the scope of their Japanese corporate structure because prize money is involved in the tournament.
His original comments may have been prompted by Capcom’s recent decision to make the Capcom Cup 12 Finals and Street Fighter League World Championship 2025 pay-per-view events. Capcom stated this change was intended to support their esports business in a sustainable way over the long term.
The key goal of the TWT is to make the TEKKEN community sustainable, not to commercialize it. That’s why the Finals would never become a PPV — we’ve never proposed, discussed, or even considered such an idea. I’ve been present for all of Harada-san’s interviews, and I have never… https://t.co/oEYvFif0kV
— Yasuda Esports / 安田イースポーツ (@y_esports) November 27, 2025
Longtime Tekken Marketing Producer Naoya Yasuda backed up Harada’s statement, clarifying that TWT’s goal is to keep the Tekken community, including developers, fans, and players sustainable, not to commercialize the event. Yasuda stated clearly that TWT Finals will never use a pay-per-view model and that the topic has never been discussed internally at Bandai Namco.
