Tekken 7's chief developer doesn't take kindly to mixed Lucky Chloe reaction
"Hello small world. I'll make muscular & skinhead character for you."
Katsuhiro Harada, chief developer of the Tekken series, has had his say on the reaction to the recent reveal of the fighting game's latest new character.
Yesterday we reported on new Tekken 7 character Lucky Chloe, a breakdancing teenage girl who wears a black, pink and white kitten-themed costume, including cat ears, tail and paws. You can see her in action in the video below.
The reaction to Lucky Chloe was mixed, with some criticising her Japanese idol design as uninspired and generic. Others pointed to the fact the Tekken series has a tradition of outlandish characters, many of which are designed to appeal to a Japanese audience.
Harada's response was triggered when a Twitter follower pointed him towards a thread on popular video game forum NeoGAF that discussed Lucky Chloe's design.
"By the way, Are you 'Western' only one bulletin board?" Harada commented. "Hello small world. I'll make muscular & skinhead character for you.
"Remember, I said We've more new characters and She is ONE on THEM."
Harada then suggested Lucky Chloe would not be included in the North American version of the game. Instead, he suggested, she would be East Asia and Europe "exclusive".
"Calm down and Don't worry," he tweeted in response to a follower who called for an option to delete any character you do not want to play against in Arcade battle - including Lucky Chloe.
"That character are East Asia and Europe 'Exclusive'. And I'll say again. We've more new characters on TK7. She is JUST one of them. And she will be country exclusive (or region exclusive) character. We don't include her for your region. That's why I said Calm down and Don't worry."
When another follower asked for an explanation for why Chloe would not be available in North America, Harada replied:
"Because you don't need that character right? It's simple thing. And I'll say 'Don't worry' again. I'll release another character for you guys. I said We've more new characters.
"Example: Looks well-muscled, Skin-head, Very powerful attack (I don't like this idea but if you need)."
When asked if he was serious, Harada said:
"I'm always serious. If you don't need = I don't release them. If you need = I'll release. That's all."
So there you have it. It appears Harada is at least willing to cut Lucky Chloe from the North American release of Tekken 7, but keep her in the East Asian and European versions of the game.