Tomonobu Itagaki, creator of Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive, dies at 58

Tomonobu Itagaki, founder of Team Ninja and the renowned Japanese video game developer behind Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden (2004), has died at the age of 58. The news was revealed through a social media post Itagaki had prepared to be shared following his passing.

His close friend James Mielke, co-founder and creative director of Bitsummit, also confirmed the news on Bluesky and Instagram.

"Today I lost a friend who was more than a brother to me. He called me his brother, he called me his best friend. I am honored to have been any of these things to him, and was equally grateful for his friendship for more than two decades. I am reposting his final Facebook message as a way to share the news in his own words," Mielke posted on his Instagram account.

In the post, Itagaki said that "my life has been a series of battles. We keep winning. I have caused a lot of trouble. I stand by my beliefs and owe them. No regrets."

Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada also posted a message on X expressing his disbelief at the news. "No way, Itagaki-san you said, “Let’s grab a drink sometime,” didn’t you? I don’t believe it. I don’t," Harada wrote.

Tomonobu Itagaki was widely credited with creating and directing the Dead or Alive fighting game series, which debuted in arcades in 1996, and for revitalizing Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden franchise on Xbox in 2004.