Over the last few days, Tekken 8 fans have been begging franchise director Katsuhiro Harada to add a new stage to the hit fighting game. It’s not any new stage though. Fans want Harada and his team to add a waffle House-themed stage. After noticing the influx of requests, Harada took to Twitter to ask why players wanted a Waffle House stage. Fans gave the director the full rundown on why they think Waffle House would be a great stage, and Harada then posted his response. Unfortunately, it might not be the news those Tekken 8 fans were hoping to hear.
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Will Tekken 8 Get a Waffle House Stage?
While Harada didn’t announce an imminent partnership between Tekken 8 and Waffle House, he didn’t completely rule it out. In his response, Harada said, “I understand that many people are requesting it. However, I think you are missing one important point. The restaurant has both the trademark and the rights to the restaurant, so if the restaurant chain’s headquarters refuses to accept my proposal, it will not happen.”
That’s not Harada saying it will never happen. Instead, he’s making sure fans understand the business behind these deals. However, it is worth noting that brands like Waffle House have been more willing to hop into strange partnerships like this one in the past, so it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility. Remember KFC partnered with PUBG last year to bring one of its restaurants to the battle royale. That doesn’t mean the Waffle House executives will agree to the deal, but it’s not the weirdest collaboration we’ve seen. Plus, even if they don’t want to partner up, the Tekken team could find a way to make the spirit of the partnership happen without Waffle House’s involvement.
Fighting game fans might remember last year when Them’s Fightin’ Herds posted an April Fool’s Day joke about a “Waful Haus” stage. Obviously, that was a joke from the developers at Mane6, but the idea behind the stage would also fit into Tekken 8 if Harada wanted to make it happen. Either way, Tekken definitely has the pull to bring in a partner for a crossover stage, it’s only a matter of finding the right company to team up with if Waffle House doesn’t agree.
Thankfully, there’s still plenty to do in Tekken 8 even if the Waffle House crossover doesn’t come to fruition. Next week, the team is bringing Eddy Gordo to the roster, along with several other cosmetic options for the other characters. Gordo launches on April 4th, but players can hop in a few days early on April 1st if they’ve purchased the Playable Character Year 1 Pass.
Tekken 8 is available now on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC platforms.
