Tekken 7 Game Director Katsuhiro Harada announced on his Facebook that the upcoming Bandai Namco title might feature an Arab character depending on response from Middle-Eastern fans. Posted above is the concept art (click to open/enlarge). Harada said:
To be honest, we did have an idea of an Arab fighter since 2008, but since most of the development team members are Japanese and do not know much about the Middle Eastern culture or clothes, we were not able to fully design it back then. But in recent years I (Harada) have been visiting places such as Dubai and Saudi Arabia, and many of the development staff members have been learning about Middle Eastern culture and designs. From there we came up with this character’s outfit design.
He has asked the Middle-Eastern fan community for feedback, stating that if the character is well-received, it will be included in the game. If not, it will either be changed “considerably” or dropped completely.
As someone who is well-acquainted with the Middle-East, I have to say that the idea is pretty cool. However, the design will need a lot of work. As many others have pointed out, it looks too Assassin’s Creed-y
[Source: Tekken Facebook]
