Jack Returns in ‘Tekken 7′

Although Tekken 7 came out a few months ago in Japanese arcades, the game is still evolving, and new characters are still being announced and added to the arcade cabinets in order to expand the title’s lifespan.

Some of these characters, such as Lucky Chloe, were met with considerable backlash due to their derivative designs. Others, like Shaheen, were warmly received by fans. While Lucky Chloe and Shaheen are both characters who are making their series debut in Tekken 7, the game’s next new character is a return series veteran.

Jack-7, the seventh incarnation of the franchise’s brutal Russian robot, will join Tekken 7. Sporting a freshly dyed pink mohawk and glowing, neon green insides, Japanese arcade goers can expect the new Jack to appear in arcade cabinets across the country starting May 19th.

Unfortunately, for those outside of Japan, Jack-7 is just another character for a game that has yet to have any sort of Western release announcement. First revealed at EVO 2014 by Bandai Namco, so far Tekken 7 has been relegated to arcades in its country of origin, despite the popularity of the series in international markets.

It’s strange that there hasn’t been much in the way of news regarding a Tekken 7 console port. Every main game in the Tekken series, as well as its numerous spinoffs, have all made it out of Japan and on to consoles, and it seems unlikely that Tekken 7 will fare differently. However, the fighting game landscape is changing, the possibilities that raises for Tekken 7 are fairly interesting.

Five months ago, Capcom announced that Street Fighter 5 would be exclusive to PC and PlayStation 4, striking a significant blow against the Xbox One. This announcement came as a surprise to Microsoft, but the Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, promised fans that he’d “make amends.” The Tekken franchise is typically aassociated with the PlayStation brand, but the series’ recent more entries have appeared on Xbox consoles as well. It won’t be surprising if Microsoft announces Tekken 7 Xbox One exclusivity at E3 in response to Son’y Street Fighter 5 deal.

Of course, all of this is speculation, and the most likely scenario is that Tekken 7 will eventually rlease on both PS4 and Xbox One. Judging by the game’s graphics, a last-generation version is a possibility as well. Until Bandai Namco makes an official announcement, Tekken fans will just have to keep their fingers crossed, and hope that the game will eventually see the light of day outside of Japan.

Tekken 7 is currently only playable in Japanese arcades, with Jack-7 being added to the game on May 19th. However, expect a console port to be announced eventually, possibly even as soon as E3 in June.