Team Ninja (Japanese: チームニンジャ) is a Japanese video game company that works as part of Koei Tecmo. It was started in 1995 as Tecmo Creative #3, a part of Tecmo led by Tomonobu Itagaki. The company is well known for creating action games and for its popular game series, such as Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive, and Nioh.
After Tomonobu Itagaki left in 2008, Yosuke Hayashi became the team leader until he left in 2022. Fumihiko Yasuda has been the president since then.
History
Team Ninja was created by Tomonobu Itagaki as Tecmo Creative #3. The team was formed from a group of game designers at Tecmo who worked specifically to create home versions of the fighting game series Dead or Alive. In the mid-1990s, Tecmo, a Japanese gaming company, faced money problems. Because Sega’s Virtua Fighter series was very popular in Japan, Tecmo’s leaders asked Itagaki to create a game similar to Virtua Fighter. To make Dead or Alive stand out, Team Ninja focused on making the game fast-paced and bold. Itagaki believed that including violence and sexuality was important for "true entertainment." The Dead or Alive series became a big success, both in sales and reviews, and helped Tecmo avoid going out of business.
In 1999, the team was renamed Team Ninja to help Tecmo build its identity and be seen as an elite group. That same year, Team Ninja began working on a new Ninja Gaiden project, originally planned for arcades and later for the Dreamcast. Because Sega stopped making consoles, development moved to the PlayStation 2. However, Itagaki was impressed by the new Xbox from Microsoft, so the project was shifted to that platform. Ninja Gaiden was released in 2004 and received strong praise from critics. In 2008, the action-adventure game Ninja Gaiden II for the Xbox 360 was published by Microsoft Game Studios, making it the first Team Ninja game not published by Tecmo. Tecmo Koei later released an improved version of Ninja Gaiden II on the PlayStation 3 as Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2.
In 2004, Itagaki was promoted to Tecmo Executive Officer and General Manager in 2006, in addition to leading Team Ninja. In 2007, a lawsuit about alleged sexual harassment caused Itagaki to lose his management roles. Though a Tokyo court later found him not guilty, the lawsuit damaged his relationship with Tecmo. On June 3, 2008, Itagaki announced he would leave Tecmo and Team Ninja on July 1, 2008, citing conflicts with the company. He also filed a lawsuit against Tecmo’s president over unpaid bonuses for work on Dead or Alive 4. It was later reported that he was fired in retaliation for the lawsuit. A second lawsuit was filed by two employees on behalf of Tecmo’s 300 workers for unpaid wages totaling ¥8.3 million. Many Team Ninja members left to join Itagaki’s new company, Valhalla Game Studios. Some former Team Ninja members also worked on Ubisoft’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up. Both sides reached a settlement in February 2010.
In 2009, Tecmo and Koei merged to form Koei Tecmo. Tecmo was officially dissolved in 2010, and its assets, including Team Ninja, were absorbed into Koei Tecmo. Team Ninja continued as a part of Koei Tecmo.
Team Ninja worked on several games with Nintendo. In 2010, they co-developed Metroid: Other M for Nintendo’s Wii. A playable stage from Other M appeared in the Nintendo 3DS game Dead or Alive: Dimensions, published by Nintendo in Europe and Australia. In 2014, Team Ninja collaborated with Omega Force to create Hyrule Warriors, an action game set in The Legend of Zelda universe. They also worked with SEGA AM2 on the Arcade version of Dead or Alive 5 and brought characters from Virtua Fighter into Dead or Alive.
In 2013, after restructuring Koei Tecmo, Team Ninja was renamed Koei Tecmo Ichigaya, with Yosuke Hayashi becoming head of the Ichigaya Development Group. The team was split into two groups: one led by Yosuke Hayashi and another led by Keisuke Kikuchi. Further changes in 2016 led to the shutdown of Team Tachyon, and many of its developers joined Team Ninja.
In 2017, Team Ninja released Nioh, an action role-playing game that received strong critical praise. Nioh began development in 2004 at Koei and was later moved to other teams before Koei asked Team Ninja to help develop it after the 2010 merger. Initially, Team Ninja staff were unsure about the game’s concept, but development was fully transferred to them in 2012. Nioh became Team Ninja’s best-selling title and won multiple awards. They also released Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order for the Nintendo Switch in 2019 and Dead or Alive 6. In 2020, they released Nioh 2, a prequel to Nioh. A compilation of the Ninja Gaiden series, titled Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection, was released in 2021. In 2022, they developed Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin.
As of 2022, Yosuke Hayashi left Team Ninja to become general manager of Koei Tecmo’s entertainment division, with Fumihiko Yasuda taking his place as president. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, produced by Fumihiko Yasuda and Masaaki Yamagiwa, was announced in 2022 and released in 2023. Rise of the Rōnin, a collaboration with Sony, was released in 2024.
Team Ninja celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025. Ninja Gaiden 4 and Nioh 3 were announced and are set to release on October 21, 2025, and in early 2026, respectively, to mark the occasion.
Controversies
Team Ninja's unique style, first introduced by Itagaki, has sparked debate among fans and critics. Some praise the company's work, such as the character Kasumi from Dead or Alive, who has been called a modern-day sex symbol by MTV UK. However, others have criticized Team Ninja for portraying women in ways that some view as disrespectful. In a 2012 interview with Kotaku, Yosuke Hayashi, a Team Ninja member, explained that the company's intent was misunderstood outside Japan. He stated that the company does not aim to create harmful portrayals, but acknowledges that different cultures may interpret their work differently. In 2016, Team Ninja faced controversy again when it decided not to release Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 in North America or Europe. This decision reignited discussions about how female characters are depicted in video games. At the time, Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, noted that European and North American cultures have different standards for representing women in media.
In 2008, the German Rating Board, USK, refused to approve Ninja Gaiden II for sale in Germany because of its extreme violence. The game’s publisher, Microsoft, chose not to release a version with less violence. This decision influenced the development of the PlayStation 3 version, Sigma 2, which included reduced violence. Sigma 2 was later approved for sale in Germany.
In 2011, Dead or Alive: Dimensions was banned in Sweden because the rating board believed the characters looked too young. This led Australian politician Brendan O'Connor to ask the Australian Classification Board to review the game. The board then removed the game from sale. Nintendo, the game’s publisher in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, stated that the game contained no harmful content and resubmitted it. The classification was later restored.
In 2019, Team Ninja faced controversy when a livestream of Dead or Alive 6 at Evo Japan 2019 featured gravure idols. The stream was stopped by the Evolution Championship Series. Joey Cuellar, co-founder and CEO of EVO, apologized, saying the stream did not reflect EVO’s values and that it was necessary to protect the event’s integrity. Mark Julio, head of global business at EVO, later apologized during the tournament, stating that the content shown by an EVO partner did not align with the organization’s goals. Evo 2020 was canceled, and Cuellar was removed as CEO after past allegations of sexual abuse toward minors were revealed.
According to reports, Rise of the Rōnin will not be released in South Korea because Fumihiko Yasuda compared Shoin Yoshida, a controversial figure in South Korea, to Socrates. Sony confirmed that the game will not be sold or published in South Korea, but did not explain the reason.
Games
- Dead or Alive: Code Chronos – A game that comes before the main Dead or Alive series. It was meant to tell the story of two characters, Kasumi and Ayane, and was not planned as a fighting game. The project was cancelled in November 2010.
- Project Progressive – A game first planned for the Xbox, but development was moved to the Xbox 360. The project was cancelled in November 2010.
- Ninja Gaiden 3DS – A game for the Nintendo 3DS announced by Team Ninja in 2011. The project was cancelled without much notice at a later date.