A Tekken 8 demo is coming to PS5 on Thursday, Xbox and PC next week

Bandai Namco has announced plans to release a Tekken 8 demo this week.

Fans will be able to sample the game when the demo hits PlayStation 5 on December 14, and Xbox Series X/S and PC (Steam) on December 21.

It will include the first chapter of the game’s story, The Dark Awakens, plus a local versus fighting mode.

According to Bandai Namco, “Tekken 8 continues the tragic saga of the Mishima and Kazama bloodlines and their world-shaking father-and-son grudge matches.

“In this latest chapter, Jin Kazama will seek to defy his fate as he faces his father Kazuya Mishima causing war and destruction across the globe.

“Along with the main storyline experience that flows from Hollywood-grade cutscenes to over-the-top battles, separate character episodes provide more insight into the individual stories of each character.”

The game will also include a new single-player Arcade Quest mode. It sees players create an avatar and visit different digital arcades to participate in matches in a bid to become the world’s top player.

“Originally, this kind of genre was born in the arcades. And they’ve kind of all but disappeared in the West, and even in Japan more recently,” game director Kohei Ikeda told the PlayStation Blog.

“But the great part about it was that you would just show up at the arcade, and your friends would be there, or you’d make new friends, and you all share this passion for the game, you were able to learn new things while you were there.

“It was a great experience. So people who experienced that culture before could be like, ‘Oh, wow, I remember that. It was awesome.’ Or younger players who maybe had heard of it could get some kind of taste of that online.”

The Tekken 8 release date is January 26, 2024.