A grieving Tekken 8 player asked the community for help after his brother's passing. Now, even the games devs are ready to help.
Gaming is a very strong medium, able to connect people and bring them closer together. Especially in co-op and multiplayer games. On February 22 a user shared their heartbreaking story on Reddit and how they found their dead brother at home.
He explained the situation and that his brother's death was sudden and without any prior signs. The passing of his sibling has left a deep emotional scar with him, and he would like to still be connected to his brother in some way through Tekken.
His plea for help has reached as far as Katsuhiro Harada, game director and chief producer of Tekken.
Tekken 8 Devs Help Grieving Player
Can AI ghosts be permantly saved? My brother just passed suddenly... by u/Melodic_Insect1356 in Tekken
In the Reddit post, user Melodic_Insect1356 asked the community for help after finding his brother at home. He explained that while he is grieving he would like to keep his brother's AI ghost in some way, so even after data from his brother's account is deleted due to inactivity, he can still "fight against his brother" in the coming years.
While the AI ghosts are nothing compared to the actual players, it would still feel like a part of his brother is there with him and with whom he can play.
This post managed to reach the high ranks at Bandai Namco with Kohei Ikeda, one of the devs of Tekken 8 replying on Twitter/x stating, that if he downloads and saves his brother's ghost locally then he can still play against him anytime even if the data is deleted from the server.
My deepest sympathy[ If you download and save your brother's ghost locally, you can still play against it anytime even if the data is lost from the server. ( from my staff @nkt_dreamer )]And please let me know if there is anything I can do to help.I have personally sent... https://t.co/pSn3aL7DEC
— Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) February 23, 2024
Katsuhiro Harada also saw the story and has also responded with his own condolences, repeating what Ikeda had also said about saving the AI ghost locally to keep it from getting completely deleted. He even went a step further, offering to send a message to the grieving family directly, telling the Reddit user to contact him directly if he needs anything.
Melodic_Insect1356 has since seen the messages from the Tekken devs and has responded under his Reddit post, praising the Tekken community and how they came together to make this happen.
Thank you to you and the Tekken community. We have some truly awesome people here.