Tekken 8 beta coming soon? It sure looks like it

It looks like Tekken 8 will most likely launch in 2024 at the earliest

A Tekken 8 beta has been stealthily added to Steam today, hinting towards a closed network test becoming available in the near future. This was discovered on SteamDB, a website that monitors and tracks updates to the popular PC storefront.

Tekken 8 has been playable in offline closed alpha tests at real-world tournaments this year, including Evo Japan in March and Combo Breaker over the weekend. However, it has yet to be playable to the general public around the world, and certainly not online.

Looking at the assets uploaded alongside the Steam beta, you can clearly see the letters ‘CNT’. This likely stands for some variation of ‘closed network test’, a common practice for modern fighting game developers to test the online infrastructure of their titles ahead of release with a limited player pool of global fighters. It’s also a good way of discovering busted combos or other bugs, as hordes of passionate players will be pulling apart the game in an attempt to discover optimal combos and other techniques.

There’s been no word on how exactly a Tekken 8 closed beta test will be made available to the public as of yet. Here’s to hoping Bandai Namco can avoid the disasterous situation that Capcom ran into with its Street Fighter 6 closed beta, which was quickly cracked open months before launch for those with a little know-how.

This marks the second major leak in a matter of days for Bandai Namco and the Tekken team, who only recently had the latest trailer for Bryan leaked online ahead of schedule on social media by Bandai Namco EU. The trailer, which showcases a new addition to the Tekken 8 roster and was intended as a surprise for the spectators of Combo Breaker 2023, instead became a source of frustration for Tekken 8 director Harada and producer Michael Murray.

We’ve reached out to Bandai Namco to ask whether they can confirm when this closed beta test will be available to download, or what exactly will be included in the closed network test. We’ve yet to recieve a response.

Are you excited to check out Tekken 8 for yourself? Let us know below, as well as when you reckon the game beta will be available to download!