Tekken games in order: Chronological and release We've battled through every King of Iron Fist Tournament to put together this list of all the Tekken games in order.Ian Stokes Published 06 Feb 2024 FollowtopicsXbox Series X|SArticleIan Stokes As the Tekken franchise celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, we thought it’d be a good time to take a stroll down memory lane and look at all the Tekken games in order.Tekken is one of the most storied and long-living fighting game franchises out there, and while it’s most synonymous with PlayStation — the first six entries on this list were PlayStation exclusives — Xbox players have been able to enter the King of Iron Fist Tournament since Tekken 6 graced the Xbox 360 back in 2007. Many of the Tekken games also had re-releases with subtitles and some extra content (like Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection) — we’re not counting those as separate games here.Alongside Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, Tekken is one of the best fighting game series of all time. Like all fighting games, the story is absolutely bananas too, and if you want to follow the full saga, then this list will help you follow along.Tekken games in order: Quick listUnlike other long-running series, the Tekken games don't jump around in time. There are a few non-canon entries, but even they seem to take place chronologically after the previous game. So, unlike our Call of Duty games in order list which bounces around all over the place, the Tekken games have the same chronological and release order. Just don't mistake the simple timeline for a simple storyline, because it gets wild.Tekken (1995)Tekken 2 (1996)Tekken 3 (1998)Tekken Tag Tournament (2000)Tekken 4 (2002)Tekken 5 (2005)Tekken 6 (2009)Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (2012)Street Fighter X Tekken (2012)Tekken Revolution (2013)Tekken 7 (2017)Tekken 8 (2024)Tekken games in order: Chronological and release1. TekkenRelease date: March 31, 1995Developer: NamcoPlatforms: PlayStationThe Tekken saga began back in 1994, opening with series’ icon and all-around great hairdo-haver Heihachi Mishima throwing his five-year-old son off a cliff to test his strength. You know, normal parenting stuff. His son, Kazuya Mishima, survives the fall by selling his soul to the devil in order to get revenge on his dear old dad. This all comes full circle at the end of the first King of Iron Fist Tournament when Kazuya defeats Heihachi and chucks him off the same cliff.2. Tekken 2Release date: March 29, 1996Developer: NamcoPlatforms: PlayStationTwo years have passed since the events of the first game, and Kazuya Mishima now runs his father's evil empire, and has somehow turned it even more evil (being possessed by the Devil will do that to ya). Heihachi, having survived being dropped off a cliff because he’s well hard, returns to stop his son and reclaim his empire, while other fighters plot to bring down Kazuya for their own reasons.Kazuya decides to host a second King of Iron Fist Tournament to bring out his enemies and crush them all in one fell swoop. Heihachi ends up making his way to the finals (with a little help from a traffic jam costing Paul his spot, true story) and defeats his son. He then decides to really go for the Father of the Year award this time, throwing Kazuya into a volcano.3. Tekken 3Release date: March 26, 1998Developer: NamcoPlatforms: PlayStationWe’ve got a hefty time jump now, as Tekken 3 takes place 15 years after the previous entry. Heihachi has a private army and has brought about world peace, but his forces end up accidentally releasing an ancient alien bioweapon called Ogre. Heihachi schemes to capture and harness Ogre’s power by, you guessed it, organizing King of Iron Fist Tournament 3.Paul gets absolutely screwed once again when Ogre absorbs Heihachi’s life force and morphs into True Ogre so the tournament gets restarted without his knowledge, leaving Jin Kazama (Kazuya’s son) to defeat True Ogre and win the tournament for real. Justice for Paul!4. Tekken Tag TournamentRelease date: March 30, 2000Developer: NamcoPlatforms: PlayStation 2We reach the first diversion from the mainline series with Tekken Tag Tournament, which isn’t part of the canon storyline. In fact, there is no storyline to speak of. Tekken Tag Tournament is as pure as a fighting game can get. It has a huge roster of characters from the series so far, as well as a couple of new characters.The main addition that TTT brought to the series was the titular tag system. Players select two fighters before the match, and can swap between them during the battle to activate special tag team combos and throws. There was also a bowling mini game which was actually pretty sick.5. Tekken 4Release date: March 28, 2002Developer: NamcoPlatforms: PlayStation 2Back to continuity — two years have passed and Heihachi is being a real naughty boy, having gathered samples of Ogre’s blood and tissue to try and harness its power once again. He realizes he lacks the devil gene needed to make his plan work, so he hosts the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 to lure out Jin and Kazuya, the only two fighters known to possess the gene.Heihachi’s plan almost works, as he wins the tournament and captures both Jin and Kazuya, only for the two halves of Devil within them to emerge, knocking old man Mishima out. Kazuya overcomes his devilish half and merges with it, but Jin loses control, beating Kazuya and Heihachi to the brink of death. Before Jin can land the finishing blow though, a vision of his mother causes him to spare their lives and fly off with his cool-ass devil wings.6. Tekken 5Release date: February 25, 2005Developer: NamcoPlatforms: PlayStation 2Tekken 5 picks up immediately after the end of Tekken 4, with Heihachi and Kazuya regaining consciousness only to come under attack from Jack-4 androids. Kazuya escapes while Heihachi gets blown up when a Jack self-destructs, seemingly killing him. It’s Tekken, no one dies so he’s obviously coming back, but ooo drama. Heihachi is declared dead and his company (Mishima Zaibatsu) is taken over by a shadowy figure.A few months later, the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 is announced, pulling the Tekken cast back together once again. Kazuya enters to find out what’s going on and eventually discovers that his grandfather, Jinpachi Mishima, is the mysterious new ruler of the Mishima dynasty. It turns out Heihachi overthrew him in a coup and sealed him under the family’s Hon-Maru dojo, where he was possessed by a vengeful spirit.Meanwhile, Jin ends up battling his way to the finals with the aid of his devil powers, and he manages to defeat Jinpachi in the finals, banishing the possessed old man and taking control of Mishima Zaibatsu in the process.7. Tekken 6Release date: October 27, 2009Developer: Namco Bandai GamesPlatforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PSPFinally, we get to the Tekken game that brought the series over to the Xbox. Set six months after the previous game, Tekken 6 opens with Jin Kazama ruling the roost as head of the Mishima Zaibatsu corporation. Being CEO isn’t enough for Jin though, so he casually declares independence, becomes a nation, and declares war on the rest of the world (don’t give Microsoft any ideas Jin).Since World War 3 has kicked off, this is the first Tekken game that doesn’t feature a fighting tournament. Instead, we get a load of espionage, conspiracy, reveals, and betrayals involving Heihachi’s illegitimate son, the G Corporation, and an ancient evil demon named Azazel.On the gameplay front, Tekken 6 introduced a Rage system which makes fighters deal more damage when their health gets low — it’s kind of like rubber banding in racing, a balancing system to help fights stay closer. 8. Tekken Tag Tournament 2Release date: September 11, 2012Developer: Namco Bandai GamesPlatforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii UAnother Tag Tournament entry hit in 2011, and while it’s still not part of the canon timeline, this one does at least have a story. Heichaci develops a rejuvenation serum, designed to make him younger and regain him the strength of his youth. He takes the serum and then hosts a King of Iron Fist Tournament to test his regained powers.Gameplay-wise, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is basically Tekken 6 but with tag mechanics added to it. The roster swells up from 41 characters in Tekken 6 though, up to 59 fighters here. 9. Street Fighter X TekkenRelease date: March 6, 2012Developer: CapcomPlatforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, iOS, PS VitaWe’re leaving the official canon once again, this time from a crossover with Street Fighter. A mysterious cube crash lands in Antarctica (maybe the Autobots lost another magic space cube?). Fighters from both the Tekken and Street Fighter universes end up pairing up and trying to take control of the cube, now called Pandora.Interestingly, there is no weird cosmic event that pulls the fighters from both games into the same universe, they just sort of rock up at the same place and fight each other, which is extremely funny when you think about it. Ryu and Ken have been getting snubbed for years by the King of Iron Fist Tournament. Poor guys.In practice this game plays more like Street Fighter than Tekken, as it was developed by Capcom. 10. Tekken RevolutionRelease date: June 11, 2013Developer: Namco Bandai GamesPlatforms: PlayStation 3Another Tekken game that can be described as basically the previous game repackaged, Tekken Revolution was a free-to-play game on the PS3 that was essentially just Tekken Tag Tournament 2 modified to work as a F2P title. That means it’s not canon, and has no real plot to speak of again. It has a roster of 29 fighters — considerably fewer than the game it’s based on. Given that it was F2P, I guess we can’t complain too much.The real kicker was the inclusion of a stat-building feature that meant players had to grind for skill points to upgrade their fighters. Or they could just buy them, leaving Tekken Revolution with a huge pay-to-win problem in the online multiplayer.11. Tekken 7Release date: June 2, 2017Developer: Bandai Namco StudiosPlatforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PCAfter the defeat of Azazel in Tekken 6, the war between Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation rages on. The story of Tekken 7 isn’t told from the perspective of one of the fighters, but instead follows a journalist who is investigating the shadowy dealings of both companies.Heihachi weasels his way back into control of Mishima Zaibatsu and partners with Claudio Serafino, leader of the Sirius Marksmen, to try and take down his son, Kazuya. Kazuya wants revenge on Heihachi for killing his mother, Kazumi Mishima. By the end of the twisting, turning plot, Kazuya gets his revenge and kills his father. 12. Tekken 8Release date: January 26, 2024Developer: Bandai Namco StudiosPlatforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PCAnd so we reach our most recent entry, this year’s smash hit, Tekken 8. Tekken 8 picks up roughly six months after the death of Heihachi at the end of Tekken 7, with Jin Kazama and his forces launching an ambush to take down Kazuya in New York. This goes poorly, with Kazuya killing millions of people as he reveals his devil form to the world.Continuing his big bad guy energy, he announces another King of Iron Fist Tournament, with each nation on Earth submitting their best fighter — the winner will be rewarded, while every other country will be wiped out. Pretty high stakes then. Jin ends up victorious after he awakens his Angel form and defeats Devil Kazuya.Amazingly, Heihachi stays dead for the entirety of the game despite being Tekken’s most recognizable fighter. We’d put money on his resurrection at some point down the line though, that hair is just too iconic to lose forever. Xbox Series X|SXbox OneXbox 360 Written by Ian StokesAfter a decade of using TA for achievement guides, Ian has ascended the mountaintop and now runs the place (under Rich, our benevolent leader). He plays almost every genre, but especially loves RPGs & shooters. He’s also a bit of a fiend for indie titles.With 10 years experience as a games journalist, he's worked on sites like GamesRadar, VICE, IGN, Space.com, and more. Ian graduated from Keele University with a BA in Biology and a PhD in Chemistry.