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 has significantly altered the game in ways that many players find controversial.

The patch notes unveiled a broad increase in character damage and offensive capabilities, prompting a segment of the community to argue that the update has deviated too far from the traditional Tekken gameplay experience.

He elaborated, "Characters getting buffed even in the slightest is not the way along with more stance-based transitions where 50/50 situations are enhanced. Some of the new moves added are insane with little to no counterplay. Characters getting their weaknesses patched and identities being removed by homogenisation is lazy balancing. Oki being gutted and heat just getting buffed makes no sense. Combo damage is too much across the whole roster. I definitely think the sidesteps are better but does that really matter when moves exist with crazy tracking/hitboxes? Chip damage is still excessive with most heat smashes remaining the same. Removing strategy in favour of more 50/50 situations isn't interesting gameplay and is moving away from the foundation of Tekken.

“Where are the defensive options that were mentioned?”

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; }As expected, players have taken to Tekken 8’s Steam page to voice their discontent. The game has been inundated with over 1,100 negative reviews in just the last two days, leading to a 'mostly negative' user review rating for recent reviews.

One of the most upvoted reviews reads, “Genuinely good game held back by schizophrenic insane developers sent from hell.”

Another review states, “New season dropped and they made every character into a braindead easy mix up machine without a single buff to defense.”

A further negative review notes, “After promising changes to open up defensive options, the balance team has doubled down on extremely powerful offense that takes away all agency from the defending player.”

A player lamented, “Not every character needs to be able to force 50/50 canned mixups constantly, but it seems like the balance team doesn't have any other ideas for how to build characters at this point. It's just a shame to see another legacy fighting game become entirely defined by character offense and situations with little to no response from the defender.”

The backlash has been so severe that some fans are abandoning Tekken 8 for Capcom’s Street Fighter 6. Others have labeled Season 2 as the “worst patch in Tekken history,” and some professional players are contemplating leaving Tekken 8 altogether.

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

The community is now eagerly awaiting a response from the development team to address the widespread complaints. Some are calling for a complete rollback of the patch, while others are advocating for an emergency follow-up patch to implement crucial adjustments.