Tekken Ball Is Back in Tekken 8

Tekken Ball is a fan-favourite mini-game that made its debut in 1998’s Tekken 3 before returning in 2012’s Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U edition. Now, over a decade later, Tekken Ball is back in Tekken 8.

In Tekken Ball the player needs to deal damage to their opponent by either landing the ball on the ground in their opponent’s side of the beach volleyball court, or hitting their opponent with the ball itself. It was a fun distraction for Tekken veterans, and a go-to party game among local friends.

Tekken Ball returns in Tekken 8, and the tweet below, from @Yellow_Motion, shows gameplay for the first time.

🔴 FIRST LOOK: TEKKEN BALL Mode in TEKKEN 8! 🔵

🏐 TEKKEN BALL Mode is back in TEKKEN 8, and it’s looking better than ever. Check out this very first Gameplay Footage to get a taste of what’s to come.

How does it look? Share your thoughts! #TEKKEN8 #TEKKENBALL pic.twitter.com/VrMPgvG2oT

— YellowMotion | TEKKEN 8 (@Yellow_Motion) September 19, 2023

Bandai Namco said Tekken Ball is featured inside the new Tekken Fight Lounge, a lobby where players can interact with one another and access new features and modes.

Alongside the reveal of Tekken Ball is news Bandai Namco will host a new closed beta test for Tekken 8. This CBT includes the Fight Lounge and lets players try out the Battle Arena and Customisation Shop. Tekken Ball, unfortunately, is not part of the test.

The CBT starts October 20 and ends October 23, and is available on PlayStation, Xbox Series X and S, and PC. It includes 19 characters (Jin, Kazuya, Jun, Paul, Law, King, Lars, Jack-8, Xiaoyu, Nina, Leroy, Lili, Asuka, Hwoarang, Bryan, Claudio, Azucena, Raven, and the newly announced Feng).

Tekken 8 launches January 26, 2024. For more, check out IGN’s interview with Tekken development chief Katsuhiro Harada from gamescom 2023, as well as as IGN’s preview of the Tekken 8 closed network test that ran in July.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.