Tekken 8 Fans Outraged at Season 2 Changes, Pros May Quit, Steam Reviews Plummet

The Tekken 8 community has erupted in frustration following the release of the Season 2 update, which introduced several controversial changes to the game. The patch notes indicated an overall increase in character damage and offensive capabilities, leading many players to argue that the game has deviated significantly from the traditional Tekken experience.

JoKa elaborated on his concerns: "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 favor 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; }The backlash has been evident on Tekken 8's Steam page, where players have vented their frustrations, resulting in over 1,100 negative reviews in the past two days and a 'mostly negative' recent user review rating.

One of the most upvoted reviews described the game as a "genuinely good game held back by schizophrenic insane developers sent from hell." Another review criticized the update for turning every character into "a braindead easy mix up machine without a single buff to defense." A third review lamented the lack of promised defensive options, stating that "the balance team has doubled down on extremely powerful offense that takes away all agency from the defending player."

"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," another player expressed.

The discontent is so severe that some fans are switching to Capcom's Street Fighter 6, while others label Season 2 as the "worst patch in Tekken history." Some professional players have even threatened to abandon 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. Many are calling for the patch to be rolled back entirely, while others are hoping for an emergency follow-up patch to address the key issues raised by the player base.