'Tekken 7' release date, news: Story trailer hints Akuma's involvement in the Mishima conflict

A promotional image for "Tekken 7"Facebook/tekken

The console edition of "Tekken 7" is about to come out in early 2017, but Bandai Namco Entertainment increases the players' excitement by releasing an impressive cinematic trailer during the recently concluded Golden Joystick Awards.

The two-minute trailer showed some in-game fight scenes involving several members of the game's roster, including Asuka, Bryan Fury, Alisa, Marshall Law, Josie Rizal, King, Shaheen, and Yoshimitsu, among others.

The trailer also featured the first appearance of the "Street Fighter" crossover character named Akuma. The special guest character will play a vital role in the game's plot, as he tries to pay his debt to Kazumi Mishima by killing her husband Heihachi and son Kazuya if she ended up dead. This means that the guest character will be involved in the rumored Mishima family conflict arc within the game.

In an interview with Game Spot, game producer Katsuhiro Harada revealed that Akuma's appearance in "Tekken 7" can be considered as a special case. "He's actually part of the story and the game--not just the backstory but actually in the story mode itself," the game producer stated.

However, Harada also mentioned that Akuma might be the only guest character for now. "It might be interesting to include some other guest characters, if there was one that really clicked and could bring in a new audience. But at the moment, it's not something we're actively thinking about," he stated.

Yibada also claimed that there will be additional five characters that will be added to the roster, namely Lei Wulong, Anna Williams, Roger Jr., Julia Chang, and Zafina. But there are no reports confirming the addition of the said characters yet.

"Tekken 7" first came out in a limited arcade release in Japan back in March 2015, while an updated arcade version called the "Tekken 7: Fated Retribution" came out in July 2016. The PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC editions will all be released worldwide in early 2017.