Ninja Gaiden Creator Tomonobu Itagaki Is Open To Work On New Xbox-only Titles Following Founding Of New, Self-named Studio, Itagaki Games

While a prominent entry with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) more than three decades ago, it came to be an even bigger surprise when Ninja Gaiden would face a modern adaptation unique to the Xbox platform. One designer responsible for the operation, Tomonobu Itagaki, helmed the project alongside other notable releases such as Dead or Alive 3 as well upon releasing for the Xbox 360.

However, Itagaki departed from then-named Temco in 2008 and later co-founded Valhalla Game Studios in 2010. He then went on to develop Devil’s Third at the firm until his leaving in 2017.  But in the years since Itagaki went on to new pastures, he has quietly been working to establish a new, self-named team, Itagaki Games.

Upon releasing an interview he had with Bloomberg earlier this month, the full translation reveals his whereabouts since leaving Valhalla Game Studios and the history behind partnering with Microsoft prior to the release of the first Xbox.

For the past four years, I’ve been teaching job to foster juniors, but now I feel like I want to make a game again and just established a company for that purpose.

Already aware of the preconception for the discussion in memory for twenty years of Xbox, Itagaki then goes on to elaborate in regards to his view on Xbox then and the lengths the platform achieved decades later. “Microsoft introduced an architecture that is very similar to PCs, and made that style as de-facto standard in the industry. That is a huge contribution because it made game development much easier. Anyone can make a game if they have a PC.

“That led to the birth of indie creators, and huge indie market we have today. That’s really a Microsoft’s contribution–enabling anyone to make game easily, at low cost. I hope Xbox remains outstanding, as it has always been, and I’m sure Xbox can remain so for time to come.” More interesting, Itagaki does go on to answer that while being an independent studio currently, he would be honored in becoming an Xbox Game Studios team.

In response to Itagaki forming his new game development studio, Bloomberg remarked that Xbox fans would jump to learn more on the coming projects from Itagaki Games. “You can count me for that,” the designer adds. But the meat of the story is how Itagaki reflects on the forming of Xbox years before when asked about being acquired.

I would start again with questions that I made to Seamus two decades ago. Back then, I asked him, are you confident that you will beat PS2? He said yes. Xbox is called “Project Midway” and I’ll gain the supremacy with it.

That’s why I trusted him and actually created Xbox-exclusive games for about 10 years. 20 years have passed since then, and I established my own company, Itagaki Games, which is not Tecmo, nor Valhalla. I know Microsoft is still aggressive. If they reach out to me, it will be an honor for me.

In regards to Itagaki Games and its coming work, there is no current information on what is to come. However, dissecting Itagaki’s history with Microsoft, there is a strong possibility the first release could land a marketing deal under the Xbox brand and even more – an Xbox Game Pass agreement. But all is conjecture until properly announced.

In recent news regarding the Ninja Gaiden franchise, Team Ninja when speaking to IGN shared the studio’s burning ambition to return to the series. Studio director Fumihiko Yasuda explains employees hear the outcry and direly want to answer to the request for a new installment. You can read the full report by heading here.

What are you excited about the opening of Itagaki Games?

Source: Tomonobu Itagaki via Facebook