We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

Calls for Tekken 8 beta rise as closed network test spotted online

If you're looking forward to fighting game Tekken 8, you'll be interested to learn that we could be days away from a beta announcement for PS5, Xbox, and PC.

Tekken 8 beta: an image of a man with grey hair from the fighting game

If you’re looking forward to Tekken 8 and what could be one of the best fighting games of the year, you’ll be pleased to know that it looks like we might be getting a Tekken 8 beta announcement a lot sooner than you might think. The Tekken 8 release date is slowly approaching and, while we wait for more information, it looks like a beta playtest has been spotted online. We don’t know about you, but this could very-well mean we’re going to hear more information shortly.

Spotted online by industry commentator ‘Wario64‘, a SteamDB page for a Tekken 8 beta playtest has appeared for Windows. This listing, which you can see for yourself on the SteamDB database here and below, was last updated around 07:40 PST / 10:40 EST / 15:40 BST at the time of writing – and we’re expecting a few more minor updates over the next few hours.

With the subtitle CNT, looking at the visual asset, it seems like this will be a Closed Network Test for the fighting game – a closed beta, of sorts.

Tekken 8 beta: an image of the SteamDB page relating to this fighting game

Now, we know a lot of people are expecting Tekken 8 to be one of the best upcoming PS5 games and it could quite easily be one of the best upcoming Xbox games for fighting game fans, too. We just don’t actually know whether this playtest will be coming to either console just yet. At the moment, we only have information that this Tekken 8 CNT should be something available on Steam – otherwise, it wouldn’t be on SteamDB.

As a popular game on both consoles, though, we can imagine Bandai Namco has something planned for both PlayStation and Xbox players. The real question is: when will we find out when we can check out the new Tekken 8 characters in action?

YouTube Thumbnail

The most likely date for this in the coming weeks is June 8; this is when Geoff Keighley’s huge Summer Game Fest showcase is taking place and Bandai Namco are a named SGF partner. It’ll be available to watch online from 12:00 PST / 15:00 EST / 20:00 BST on the day specified. However, we could also see Tekken 8 appear during the Xbox Showcase – which is going to take place on June 11 at 10:00 PST / 13:00 EST / 18:00 BST. This is less likely, but not impossible. We just think this showcase will be focused much more on first-party Xbox games like Outer Worlds 2 and Avowed.

We know Tekken 8 will have rollback netcode, so we can certainly imagine this is something Bandai Namco will want to test extensively – as it’s pretty vital to a smooth multiplayer experience. At times, every frame matters in fighting games. So, expect Tekken 8 to be put through its’ paces before it launches – hopefully – later this year.