Two weeks ago, a Tekken player created a mod that allowed users to play the game online with rollback netcode, sparking a community-wide debate between Western players and competitors based in Japan and Korea.

The mod, made by a community member named Ekspym, became an instant hit among Tekken players, reaching more than 10,000 players as of October 17 and a recorded 4,547 downloads as of October 15. According to the mod’s readme, “the package contains neither the PS3 firmware nor the game,” though it acts essentially like an emulator.

It sparked a viral conversation regarding the current state of Tekken 8 (with many players seeming to prefer Tekken 6 out of the two games), but perhaps more surprisingly, received massive pushback from players in Japan and Korea.

One of the loudest voices speaking out against this mod was celebrated fighting game pro Dogura. “The pirated version of Tekken 6? That thing crosses the line way too much, and I'm horrified that no one overseas is raising negative voices about it,” he wrote in a post on Twitter/X. “When our fundamental values and sense of morality differ this much, we probably can't even have a conversation. I'm praying that the right response is taken.”

Another Japanese user named Higemura also had a viral take on the situation, worrying that the Tekken series might end due to mods such as this one. “It seems like you're running the Tekken 6 service without permission, but the people doing it should really think about what they're actually up to.

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