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Following Evo 2016, some of the biggest topics of discussion regarding Tekken 7 revolved around Akuma; specifically, the fact that Street Fighter player Lee Chung Gon–more commonly known as Poongko, from Team Secret–took 3rd place with him, and the fact that many considered him to be too strong.

These things–Poongko’s ease of transition into Tekken 7, as well as the game’s overall balance, were some of the things that VG24/7 discussed with Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada when they met at Gamescom last month.

When discussing how easily Poongko seems to have transitioned into Tekken 7, Harada confirmed that this was their intention. “That’s what we were hoping would happen,” he states, “that players like Poongko who know the character well in Street Fighter could just take their Street Fighter skills that they’ve honed and easily port it over to Tekken.”

That said, he did say that seeing (Street Fighter producer) Yoshinori Ono’s glee whenever Akuma would win put a damper on things. “He was pretty happy each time Akuma would win a match, so… that was kind of irritating,” admits Harada.

As for the game’s balance: to handle fan feedback on that and other issues, Harada states that they combine feedback from social media and Twitter (where Harada has a vocal presence), with actual hard data from polls and results from the arcade.

One interesting thing he stated is that they never take fan feedback at face value. Harada states that “most of the time somebody’s saying something, but the truth is that what they’re saying isn’t exactly what they want.” He continues, saying that “we have to look and say–what is the underlying cause that’s led to them saying that particular thing?”

Aside from these, Harada also gives his thoughts on fighting games and the genre as an esport, stating that the two are “a good match.”

Source: VG24/7