Team Ninja

Studio logo since its 1995 inception

**Team Ninja** (Japanese: チームニンジャ) is a Japanese game development studio based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It was founded in 1995 as a division of the Japanese publisher Tecmo, and in 2009 became a division of Koei Tecmo after Tecmo's merger with fellow publisher Koei.

Team Ninja is best known for their work on the difficulty-focused action series *Ninja Gaiden* and the fighting series *Dead or Alive*, which are set in a shared universe. As both franchises saw decline in reception, the studio pivoted to various different projects including partnerships with Nintendo.

Since 2015, Team Ninja has been collaborating with PlayStation maker Sony Interactive Entertainment for console exclusive titles, beginning with 2017's *Nioh*. A second game, *Nioh 2*, was released in 2020. A third title, *Rise of the Ronin*, is slated for a 2024 release.

Team Ninja's early games received critical acclaim for their mechanical fluidity and style, though later titles during the late 2000s and early 2010s received more mixed opinions. For their work on the *Nioh* games, Team Ninja received critical praise with emphasis on the franchise's layered combat system, complex level design and mythology-themed Japanese aesthetics.

## History

### 1995-2009: Tecmo subsidiary

Team Ninja was established within Japanese game developer and publisher Tecmo by Tomonobu Itagaki, a programmer who joined the firm in 1992. Founded in 1995, during a time of financial trouble for Tecmo, Team Ninja was comprised of several Tecmo game designers with the purpose of developing a competitor to Sega's *Virtua Fighter* games. The studio's debut game, *Dead or Alive*, was released in 1996 to arcade machines with console ports for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation in 1997 and 1998 respectively; to make it stand out from other fighting games, Itagaki pushed for *Dead or Alive* to be more "provocative".

*Dead or Alive*'s critical and commercial success led to several sequels ranging multiple platforms and including several spin-off titles. Following the success of the first *Dead or Alive* title, Team Ninja started work on a revival of Tecmo's 1980s franchise *Ninja Gaiden* in 1999; *Ninja Gaiden*'s protagonist Ryu Hayabusa was previously included as a playable character for *Dead or Alive*, and was also the protagonist of that game's sequel, *Dead or Alive 2*, released the same year the *Ninja Gaiden* reboot began development. *Ninja Gaiden* too would become a critical and commercial success, spawning several sequels and re-releases.

In its early years, Team Ninja enjoyed a strong professional relationship with Xbox maker Microsoft, owning to Itagaki's liking of the console's hardware and capabilities. This culminated with 2008's *Ninja Gaiden II*, which became the studio's first title to not be published by parent company Tecmo; instead, Microsoft served as publisher of the game's initial release.

In June 2008, it was announced that Itagaki would leave Team Ninja and Tecmo in a much-publicized ordeal. With his departure, Itagaki sued Tecmo and its CEO Yoshimi Yasuda over unpaid bonuses for the game *Dead or Alive 4* (2005). The following month, Kotaku reported that Itagaki was fired in retaliation for his lawsuit. Itagaki later formed Valhalla Game Studios, consisting of several former Team Ninja employees.

### 2009-2015: Post-Koei Tecmo merger, reconstructing

In early 2009, Tecmo agreed to merge with fellow publisher Koei to form Koei Tecmo, with Koei as the surviving entity. As a result, all of Tecmo's assets and IP were absorbed into Koei Tecmo, and Team Ninja became a direct division of the newly formed company.

As a Koei Tecmo division, Team Ninja collaborated with Nintendo on 2010's *Metroid: Other M*, and released a new entry in the *Dead or Alive* series, *Dead or Alive: Dimensions* exclusively for the company's Nintendo 3DS handheld.

Koei Tecmo went through several reconstructions since 2013. Following a March 2013 reconstruction, Team Ninja was split into two development teams operating under Koei Tecmo Ichigaya. Of the two new entities, Ichigaya Development Group 1 was headed by Team Ninja executive Yosukue Hayashi, while Ichigaya Development Group 2was headed by *Fatal Frame* producer Keisuke Kikuchi.

### 2015 - 2020: *Nioh* duology

Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo announced PlayStation 4 console exclusive title *Nioh* at Sony's PlayStation Experience conference, in September 2015. *Nioh* was a long-troubled project that began at Koei and was announced in 2004 but went through several reboots. In 2010, following the merger with Tecmo, Team Ninja was brought in to provide support on the game; in 2012, development was fully moved into Team Ninja. Under Team Ninja, *Nioh* was changed from a traditional role-playing game into an action game inspired by FromSoftware's *Dark Souls* series.

In November 2016, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that it will publish the international version of *Nioh*, as an attempt to provide a wider audience for the game. Despite a troubled production cycle, *Nioh* was eventually released in February 2017 to critical acclaim, with gaming publications considering the game a "return to form" for Team Ninja after several lackluster releases. It went on to become Koei Tecmo's most successful release at the time, with over 3 million copies by February 2020.

Team Ninja, Koei Tecmo and Sony jointly announced a follow-up, *Nioh 2*, at Sony's E3 conference in June 2018. Intended to add to and conclude the story arc that began with *Nioh*, *Nioh 2* was released in March 2020 to positive reviews. Like its predecessor, *Nioh 2* was commercial success, selling over 2.5 million copies by February 2022.

Other titles developed by Team Ninja at the time included *Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order* (2019) in collaboration with Nintendo, and *Dead or Alive 6* under parent company Koei Tecmo.

### 2020 - current: Post-*Nioh* action games

Following the success of the *Nioh* games, Team Ninja developed several titles utilizing mechanics and other elements introduced by the franchise. In June 2021, Team Ninja and Square Enix announced a collaboration on a *Final Fantasy* installment inspired by "Soulslike" game design, *Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin*. The game was released in March 2022 to mixed reviews.

In October 2021, it was reported that former Japan Studio producer Masaaki Yamagiwa, best known for his work on 2015's *Bloodborne* and previously involved in *Nioh* during his time at Sony, joined Team Ninja.

Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo announced a multiplatform spiritual successor to *Nioh* called *Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty* in June 2022. It was released in March 2023 to positive reviews.

Sony, Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja announced a third collaboration in September 2022, revealing their next project as *Rise of the Ronin* for the PlayStation 5. The game started development in 2015, with Team Ninja transitioning to open world gameplay and story emphasis with it; producer and director Fumihiko Yasuda described *Ronin* as Team Ninja's most ambitious project to date, while parent company Koei Tecmo expressed hope the game will become a new "strategic pillar" for the company and succeed at selling 5 million copies.

## References

1. ↑ *Icons* Season 3, episode 11, *Dead or Alive*. August 5, 2004.
2. ↑ Itagaki: The Kikizo Interview 2005, Kikizo Archives. February 15, 2005.
3. ↑ McLaughlin, Rus. IGN Presents: The History of Ninja Gaiden, IGN. January 29, 2008.
4. ↑ McLaughlin, Rus. IGN Presents: The History of Ninja Gaiden, IGN. January 29, 2008.
*"Luckily, an alternative presented itself. Microsoft shipped the first Xbox dev kits to Tecmo in the closing months of 2000 and Itagaki - renowned for his harsh appraisals of gaming hardware - took to the platform immediately. To him, it was the only choice. The dev kits made perfect sense to him as a programmer, coming as they did from a software-first company, and the hardware made his games look spectacular. All Team Ninja's PS2 development permanently stopped in early 2001. Dead Or Alive 3 became an exclusive launch title for Microsoft's big black box and Ninja Gaiden soon followed suit, though Tecmo didn't make the official announcement until E3 2002. It made Tecmo one of the first and few Japanese developers to throw all its weight behind Microsoft's fledgling console."*
5. ↑ Kollar, Phillip. Itagaki Leaving Team Ninja, Suing Tecmo, 1Up.com. June 2, 2006. (archived).
6. ↑ https://kotaku.com/itagaki-didnt-leave-tecmo-he-was-fired-5028117
7. ↑ https://kotaku.com/tecmo-koei-merger-creates-koei-tecmo-holdings-5139085
8. ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/06/04/e3-2009-metroid-other-m-heavy-on-action-and-story
9. ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/2011/01/05/new-dead-or-alive-dimensions-details
10. ↑ https://kotaku.com/tecmo-koei-just-sliced-up-team-ninja-5992222
11. ↑ https://www.polygon.com/2013/3/26/4148192/team-ninja-splits-into-two-groups-following-tecmo-koei-restructuring
12. ↑ https://www.gematsu.com/2015/09/ni-oh-announced-ps4
13. ↑ https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2015/09/tgs\_2015\_ps4\_exclusive\_nioh\_slashes\_with\_samurai\_and\_spirits\_10\_years\_later
14. ↑ https://www.gamespot.com/articles/how-nioh-evolved-from-a-jrpg-to-an-action-game/1100-6443682/
15. ↑ https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2016/11/sony\_treating\_action\_rpg\_nioh\_as\_a\_first-party\_ps4\_game\_will\_publish\_in\_the\_west
16. ↑ https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nioh-review-roundup-update/1100-6447535/
17. ↑ https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nioh-is-a-brutal-return-to-form-for-ninja-gaiden-d/1100-6447134/
18. ↑ https://www.vg247.com/nioh-is-the-most-successful-game-koei-tecmo-has-ever-published-in-the-west
19. ↑ https://www.vg247.com/nioh-shipped-3-million-copies-worldwide
20. ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/06/12/e3-2018-nioh-2-revealed-at-sony-press-conference
21. ↑ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/features/interviews/team-ninja-nioh/
22. ↑ https://www.vg247.com/nioh-2-review-scores-ps4
23. ↑ https://www.gematsu.com/2022/02/nioh-2-shipments-and-digital-sales-top-2-5-million
24. ↑ https://screenrant.com/marvel-ultimate-alliance-3-trailer/
25. ↑ https://www.polygon.com/2018/6/8/17441656/dead-or-alive-6-release-date-announcement-trailer
26. ↑ https://www.square-enix-games.com/en\_EU/news/stranger-of-paradise-final-fantasy-origin
27. ↑ https://www.gamespot.com/articles/review-roundup-for-stranger-of-paradise-final-fantasy-origin/1100-6501497/
28. ↑ https://www.gamespot.com/articles/bloodborne-producer-joins-team-ninja-isnt-making-nioh-game/1100-6496934/
29. ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/wo-long-fallen-dynasty-interview-team-ninja-soulslike-feudal-china
30. ↑ https://www.kotaku.com.au/2023/03/wo-long-fallen-dynasty-reviews-call-it-a-strong-flawed-new-soulslike/
31. ↑ https://www.eurogamer.net/team-ninja-reveals-ps5-exclusive-action-rpg-rise-of-the-ronin
32. ↑ https://gamingbolt.com/rise-of-the-ronin-koei-tecmo-hopes-to-sell-over-5-million-copies