"Tekken 8 Season 2 Changes Spark Outrage, Pros Threaten Boycott, Steam Reviews Plummet"

The Tekken 8 community has erupted in frustration following the Season 2 update, which introduced changes that many consider to be a departure from the traditional Tekken experience. The patch notes highlighted an increase in character damage potential and offensive capabilities, sparking widespread discontent among players.

Professional Tekken player JoKa expressed his dismay, stating that the update has made the game unrecognizable as Tekken. He criticized the buffs to characters, the enhancement of 50/50 situations, and the introduction of new moves with minimal counterplay. JoKa also highlighted the removal of character weaknesses and identities through homogenization, the nerfing of defensive options, and the excessive combo and chip damage across the roster. Despite improvements to sidesteps, he questioned their relevance when faced with moves that have strong tracking and hitboxes.

T8 now hit the most negative reviews in a day since the day the Tekken Shop launched one year ago
byu/YourGameTVlol inTekken

.reddit-embed-wrapper iframe { margin-left: 0 !important; }The backlash is evident on Tekken 8's Steam page, where over 1,100 negative reviews have been posted in the last two days, resulting in a 'mostly negative' user review rating for recent reviews. One of the top reviews described the game as "genuinely good but held back by developers sent from hell," while others lamented the lack of defensive buffs and the overemphasis on offensive strategies that leave defending players with little agency.

The sentiment among the community is that the balance team's focus on powerful offense has stripped away the strategic depth that defines Tekken, with one review stating, "Not every character needs to be able to force 50/50 canned mixups constantly." This has led some fans to switch to Capcom's Street Fighter 6, while others have labeled Season 2 as the "worst patch in Tekken history." Some professional players are even considering abandoning Tekken 8 entirely.

I don't know if I'll continue playing Tekken if this patch stays.
I'm sorry for doomposting, but I thought it had a chance to be a better game.
I'm just really sad.
Like depressed.
I streamed 70 hours of Tekken this past week to prep for s2 just to have those hopes shattered.
Gn.

— END | Jesandy (@Jesandy1572) April 1, 2025

In light of the uproar, the community is eagerly awaiting a response from the development team. Some are calling for a complete rollback of the patch, while others hope for an emergency follow-up patch to address the key issues raised by players.