Team Ninja Confirms The Passing of Founder Tomonobu Itagaki
Team Ninja founder and creator of Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden 2004 have passed away. This is now confirmed by Team Ninja.
It’s a sad day for the gaming world. The OG Ninja who brought us Dead or Alive and the 2004 Ninja Gaiden has now passed away. What started as an eerie and odd post on his official Facebook page, is now confirmed by Team Ninja and close friends.
Team Ninja Founder Tomonobu Itagaki Has Passed Away
Team Ninja followers, specifically of its founder Tomonobu Itagaki, was filled with confusion and worry as a suggestive post of Itagaki’s passing was posted on his official FB page.
In its translated version, here’s what was shared:
Words to leave
The light of my life is about to run out.
The fact that this sentence has been posted means it’s finally time. I’m no longer in this world.
(This last post is for someone special to me. )
My life has been a series of battles. We stayed winning.
I’ve caused a lot of trouble.
I stand by my beliefs and I owe it.
No regrets.
I just feel so sorry to all my fans that I can’t deliver my new work sorry
It is what it is.
So it goes.
Banobu Itagaki
The “I’m no longer in this world.” is more than suggestive of what’s happened but many were still left confused since no previous ailment was publicly known and that he’s still young at 58.
From the time the FB post was made public, it didn’t take long before his close friend James Mielke, co-founder at Tigertron and BitSummit, paid tribute and confirmed his passing. Since then, Team Ninja officially announced that legendary video game creator Itagaki is no longer with us.
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Team NINJA's first leader, Tomonobu Itagaki.
— Team NINJA (@TeamNINJAStudio) October 16, 2025
We will carry on the philosophy and creativity that Itagaki-san began and continue to create games that many gamers will enjoy.
Our deepest condolences for his loss.
From everyone at Team…
As can be imagined, the whole industry and community is shocked and saddened by this. Tekken producer and another close friend, Katsuhiro Harada, expressed his disbelief on X posting, “You’re kidding, Itagaki-san. You said we should go for drinks next time.”
It truly is a big loss in the gaming world. He gave us the iconic Dead or Alive, spearheaded the 3D reboot of Ninja Gaiden, founded Valhalla Game Studios and released Devil’s Third, and then created Itagaki Games to make new titles, which unfortunately we won’t see anymore. According to Mielke, they were both working on a book too which was his “development memoirs.” Hopefully we’ll see that and get to relive the golden age of gaming with Itagaki and his masterpieces.
‘Til next time, Ninja.
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Sending some gaming news your way from a surfing paradise island. Loves creating content, and researching informative facts and useless trivia. A novice in the gaming industry but a veteran in communications and publication.
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