Dead or Alive creator, Team Ninja founder and Ninja Gaiden director Tomonobu Itakagi has passed away
The outspoken game designer was 58
Tomonobu Itagaki, the founder of Team Ninja and creator of the Dead or Alive series, has passed away at the age of 58.
Itagaki, who joined Tecmo in the early 1990s, went on to produce and direct the first four Dead or Alive games, as well as Dead or Alive Ultimate and its spin-off Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball.
He was also in charge of Tecmo’s critically acclaimed reboot of its Ninja Gaiden series, producing and directing Ninja Gaiden, Ninja Gaiden Black and Ninja Gaiden 2.
A final message written by Itagaki was posted on his Facebook page, following his passing.
Entitled ‘Last Words’, the message reads (via machine translation):
“The light of my life is finally fading. The fact that this message has been posted means that the time has finally come. I am no longer in this world (I’m asking a loved one to make this final post).
“My life has been a series of battles. I kept winning. I’ve caused a lot of trouble, too. I’m proud to say that I followed my beliefs and fought to the end. I have no regrets.
“However, I’m filled with regret that I wasn’t able to deliver a new work to all my fans. I’m sorry.
“That’s just how it is. So it goes.”
BitSummit co-founder, former Q-Games producer and former games journalist James Mielke posted a tribute to Itagaki on Bluesky, explaining that they were very close.
“Today I lost someone who was truly like a brother to me,” Mielke wrote. “I am gutted to the core. I guess I can say so now that it’s on his Facebook page. He even listed himself as my actual brother on Facebook. Anyone who knows me knows how close we were. RIP, senpai. You will always be a ninja.”
Mielke added that he and Itagaki were working on a book together, and that he will attempt to ensure it gets published.
“I’ve been occasionally breaking down into a mess throughout the day, but I am finding solace in the 4+ hours of conversation I recorded with Itagaki-san last year for a book we were working on together,” he wrote. “They were his development memoirs, and I will do everything in my power to bring this to life.”
Itagaki was known for his strong personality, and had a long-running feud with the Tekken series after claiming Namco had insulted Dead or Alive in a radio commercial for the game.
He later buried the hatchet with Tekken series boss Katsuhiro Harada in 2008, describing him as his “comrade in arms”, as Harada put it.
Responding to the news of Itagaki’s death on X, Harada posted: “No way, Itagaki-san. You said ‘let’s grab a drink sometime’, didn’t you? I don’t believe it. I don’t.”
