Tekken 8’s Closed Network Test (CNT) just finished but some creative coders have circumvented the timeout. Bandai Namco responded by threatening tournament bans for anyone using the illegal software.
Tekken 8 feels lightyears away with no official release date for the game just yet. Despite that, fans of the peerless fighting franchise were recently treated to the CNT.
Reactions to the CNT were generally positive with some players claiming that the game played so well, Tekken 7 was ruined for them. A few others sent shots at the development team over connection issues, one of which got soundly cooked by the game’s Director.
The hype around this stress test for Tekken 8 was eventually capitalized on by a few people who managed to craft a working copy outside of Bandai Namco’s network. The publisher responded via their Esports Twitter profile denouncing the bootleg as illegal and promising bans for tournament players hoping to get a competitive edge.
An important reminder from the TEKKEN Project and Bandai Namco Esports Team. pic.twitter.com/0Fcke36yU5
— Bandai Namco Esports (@BNEesports) July 31, 2023
The CNT was a PC-only preview allowing players to get their first taste of Tekken 8. Unfortunately, being on PC meant that savvy participants could copy the test client’s files and build a working version separate from Bandai Namco’s timed stress test.
This means that if players were so inclined, they could use third-party software to play the version of the game from the CNT well ahead of release. This causes potential issues with the competitive integrity of Tekken 8 as Bandai Namco addressed.
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“Such actions breach the terms of service and the Tekken World Tour code of conduct,” Bandai Namco explained. “Please note that any player found to have accessed the CNT without authorization may be deemed ineligible for the upcoming Tekken World Tour and any other official tournaments.”
Fans in the comments replying to Bandai Namco were split with some criticizing the unfairness of any early access. Others complained that people had ruined the spirit of the game by creating a mechanism to cheat.
A similar situation arose with Street Fighter 6’s open beta which also had third-party duplicates made. Capcom responded similarly by banning users of the cracked beta version from tournaments.
For those of you that didn’t get a chance to play the CNT and don’t feel like risking a ban, Dexerto has a collection of guides for Tekken 8’s new features.