Ninja Gaiden Creator Tomonobu Itagaki Starts New Game Studio

Ninja Gaiden developer Tomonobu Itagaki has launched a new game studio, Itagaki Games. The developer of Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden quit Valhalla Game Studios in 2017 to become a teacher.

In a post on Facebook, 53-year-old Itagaki writes that he has started a new studio, Itagaki Games. The post is an unpublished piece from an interview with Bloomberg in early January. In the post, Itagaki writes: “This studio is not Tecmo and not Valhalla.”

Tomonubu Itagaki is known for some great titles on the original Xbox, such as the Dead or Alive series and the Xbox reboot of Ninja Gaiden. The game maker had a conflict with the studio he worked for, Tecmo, in 2008, just after the release of Nina Gaiden II. That conflict was yet another row with the studio. In 2006, Itagaki was charged with sexual misconduct. According to Tecmo, there was no sexual misconduct, but the studio still gave Itagaki a pay cut.

The game maker founded Valhalla Game Studios in 2009. The only major title he released there was Devil’s Third on Wii U and an online version for PC. In 2017, he left the studio and took on the role of advisor. In the Facebook post, he writes that he has been teaching young people for the past four years, but that he wants to make a game again. That’s why he founded his new studio. He would prefer to work with Microsoft again to make games for Xbox.