'Tekken 7' release date, news: producer hints that 'Street Fighter's' Akuma part of the game's main story

Months ahead of the exciting home gaming consoles and PC release of "Tekken 7," game producers talk about the role of "Street Fighter's" Akuma in the game's main story.

Game producer Katsuhiro Harada and game designer Michael Murray recently talked with GameSpot and discussed the inclusion of Akuma in "Tekken 7." It was revealed that Akuma's crossover to the realm of "Tekken" is a special case such that it is not a typical and plain inclusion in the lineup of characters of the game.

Harada and Murray further explained, "It's not like other games where we take the character and put him in the character lineup and that's it. He's actually part of the story and the game — not just the backstory but actually in the story mode itself."

The game producer and designer also said that there is always a good possibility for guest characters to bring in new audiences and supporters to the game but it is not something that the developers are more focused on in adding Akuma to "Tekken 7."

Since character crossovers are becoming a thing between "Tekken" and "Street Fighter," there is always a good number of fans that think a wider collaboration in the future might push through. And when GameSpot asked Harada and Murray if fans can expect for developers to continue working on the successful collaboration, the game producer and designer only answered a teasing, "Stay tuned!"

"Tekken 7" has been played in Japan arcades since March 2015. But in early 2017, Bandai Namco Entertainment will finally bring the game out for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC gamers.

Harada and Murray revealed some of the reasons that convinced Bandai Namco to release the game on Windows PC, "Since we're developing the game on PC from the start using Unreal Engine, it made it much easier to release a PC version. There are also many markets in which many gamers prefer PC rather than console."

Meanwhile, it remains vague if "Tekken 7" will also tackle higher end consoles such as the PlayStation 4 Pro and the yet-to-be-released Xbox Scorpio.