New Saudi inspired Tekken character announced

Bandai Namco Games’ Katsuhiro Harada has revealed a Saudi inspired character for upcoming Tekken 7, the latest in the series.

The announcement came on Twitter yesterday and is a follow up from concept art that was produced back in August - released to gauge interest and garner feedback from gamers.

Harada has been looking to get a Middle Eastern inspired character for some time, the game is hugely popular across the Arabic speaking world. However, Harada had said he wanted to make sure he got the character right, and feels his recent trips to Saudi and the Emirates have afforded him more insight into the culture and people.

The character (Shaheen - which doesn’t mean anything in Arabic) is a smart casual Arabian peninsula looking chap and doesn’t seem to have changed much from concept.

We know Arabic gamers have been looking for an Arabic character in both Tekken and Street Fighter especially, and this will secure more support from Arabic audiences.

We’ve been in touch with Harada San and will come back to you when we have more information.

Thoughts?