Katsuhiro Harada left Bandai Namco and Tekken, stood up VS Studio under SNK, hired old Tekken hands, and now says the unannounced game will be “some kind of surprise” that will not sit outside fan expectations.
That is not a tease. That is a leash.
He already ruled out a fantasy puzzle game. He said he wants to protect what he is good at. SNK is talking original IP or their catalog. Both still mean fists.
The surprise is the logo. The expectation is the genre.
He didn’t leave Tekken to become genre-agnostic. He left so the next fighter wouldn’t wear Bandai’s name.