Tekken 8 recently had a Closed Network Test (as director Katsuhiro Harada points out, it’s not a beta) that gave a select few players access to an unfinished portion of the game. Some crafty users extended their time with the test, but that might put a halt on their competitive careers since those players might be banned from entering future competitions.
Bandai Namco has issued a warning
Bandai Namco Entertainment’s esports Twitter account posted a message to those who have split open the network test. While the team pointed out that spreading unauthorized versions of the test was illegal, it also came down on people who want to use it to get an competitive edge.
“Please note that any player found to have accessed the CNT without authorization may be deemed illegible for the upcoming Tekken World Tour and other official tournaments.”
It unclear why this isn’t a binary issue, as the “may” implies that Bandai Namco might treat some cases differently. Regardless, people who want to compete in Tekken 8 may want to abstain from getting the cracked version of the test, especially since it’ll likely be pretty outdated by the time Tekken 8 actually comes out.
This isn’t the only headache that this test has caused Bandai Namco, as it seems as though dataminers have extracted the rest of the game’s roster (or at least most of it) from the code.
Capcom took similar steps with Street Fighter 6. Those who reviewed the game or got early code had to promise to Capcom they would not participate in certain Street Fighter 6 tournaments for an entire year. One of its betas was also cracked, but Capcom did not seem to put out any rules barring competitive play for those who indulged in that early version.
