Veteran developer of the series and director of Tekken 8, Katsuhiro Harada, has spoken up about the toll trolling and harassment takes, causing real damage to team morale and even incurring additional financial costs on the larger FGC (fighting game community) in extreme cases.
Harada shared an image where one individual threatened to "hit [him] with a burning hammer" if the Capoeira instructor, mercenary, and owner of the Eddy Gordo Orphanage, Eddy Gordo, wasn't in the upcoming Tekken 8, expected in 2024 on PS5.
This kind of harassment is sadly not new, and something developers deal with constantly. Harada makes some excellent points, explaining that when threats like this get made, event operators may increase security, in turn raising the cost for fans wanting to attend gaming events. Further, citing that company management doesn't like being intimidated, Harada says the chances of a specific character being included in the game actually go down.