Tekken 8's Huge, Game-Changing Season 3 Balance Update Available Now on PS5

As promised, Bandai Namco has launched its big 3.0 update for Tekken 8, which promised a "back to basics" approach following heavy criticism during Season 2.

Season 3 begins today, and it comes with a huge overhaul to game balance and various other changes. The update is available right now.

We won't embed absolutely everything included in the patch here, as the sheer number of changes made when you include adjustments to individual characters is crazy.

Before the balancing, though, let's quickly go over the other changes included.

The patch adds new Season 3 stuff to the in-game shop, including the Round 9 Fight Pass. There are also adjustments to your rank for the new season, as well as changes to matchmaking, customisation, and more.

As for character balancing, this update reviews the "strengths, weaknesses, and distinct advantages" of every fighter, with the goal of "creating a battle experience in which each character’s individuality can be felt more clearly within neutral interactions and mind-games."

The update also targets "risk and reward across game systems and character-unique mechanics" in a continuation of efforts to "address excessive frame advantage situations and disproportionately high reward."

Air combos have also seen adjustments: "In Ver.3.00.00, the issue where air combos became excessively long when a Heat Engager was landed as a grounded hit and then followed by Heat Dash was addressed."

The official patch notes include all the nitty gritty details, with each character having some of their moves buffed or nerfed, and some even have brand new moves.

There's a huge amount of information for Tekken fans to absorb here, and we imagine it'll take a while for players to really figure out whether the devs have made the right calls. Hopefully it's a step in the right direction at least.

Are you checking out Tekken 8's big update today on PS5? Tell us in the comments section below.