Team Ninja

Founding and Itagaki-led era (1995–2008)

Team Ninja was formed by Tomonobu Itagaki as Tecmo Creative #3. The team was formed from a group of game designers working at Tecmo specifically for the purpose of creating the home versions of the fighting game series Dead or Alive. During the mid-1990s, Japanese gaming company Tecmo was in financial trouble. Seeing how popular Sega's Virtua Fighter series was in Japan at the time, the management asked Tomonobu Itagaki to create a game similar to Virtua Fighter. In order to stand out from other fighting games, Team Ninja focused on making Dead or Alive fast-paced and provocative. Itagaki believed that violence and sexuality were needed for "true entertainment". The Dead or Alive series became a critical and commercial success, and was also a key part in saving Tecmo from bankruptcy.

In 1999, the division was renamed Team Ninja to give Tecmo an identity and be recognized as an elite team. That same year, Team Ninja started work on a new Ninja Gaiden project, originally intended for arcades, later for the Dreamcast. Due to Sega exiting the console business, development was moved to the PlayStation 2. However, due to Itagaki being impressed by the technological capabilities of the new Xbox from Microsoft, development was moved to that platform. Ninja Gaiden was released in 2004 to acclaim.

In 2008, the action-adventure game Ninja Gaiden II for the Xbox 360 was published by Microsoft Game Studios, making it the first game created by Team Ninja to not be published by Tecmo; Tecmo Koei later released an enhanced version of Ninja Gaiden II on the PlayStation 3 as Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2.

Itagaki's departure and lawsuits (2008–2009)

Tomonobu Itagaki was promoted to Tecmo Executive Officer in June 2004 and to General Manager in 2006, alongside his position as the head of Team Ninja. In 2007 due to a lawsuit regarding alleged sexual harassment, his manager roles were revoked. Although he was later judged innocent by a Tokyo district court, the lawsuit strained his relationship with Tecmo. On June 3, 2008, Itagaki announced that he was leaving Tecmo and Team Ninja on July 1, 2008. He also announced that he was filing a lawsuit against the Tecmo president, Yoshimi Yasuda, over unpaid bonuses for his work on Dead or Alive 4. It was later reported that he was fired from Tecmo on June 18, 2008, in retaliation for his lawsuit. Another lawsuit followed shortly after which was filed on 16 June by two plaintiffs on behalf of Tecmo's 300 employees for unpaid wages amounting to ¥8.3 million. Many Team Ninja staff quit to join Itagaki's new studio, Valhalla Game Studios. Some ex-Team Ninja members also helped with Ubisoft's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up. The parties settled in February 2010 for an undisclosed amount.

Merger with Koei and restructuring (2009–2013)

In 2009, it was announced that Tecmo and Koei would be merging. The newly founded Koei Tecmo disbanded Tecmo in 2010. A year later all of Tecmo's assets were absorbed into Koei Tecmo, including IP and its subsidiaries and divisions. Team Ninja continued as subsidiary of Koei Tecmo.

Team Ninja collaborated on multiple titles with Nintendo. In 2010, Team Ninja co-developed a new Metroid action-adventure game for Nintendo's Wii console, titled Metroid: Other M. A playable Stage from Other M appeared in the Nintendo 3DS game Dead or Alive: Dimensions, which was published by Nintendo in Europe and Australia. Team Ninja in 2014 also collaborated with Omega Force on the development of Hyrule Warriors, an action game set in The Legend of Zelda universe, and with SEGA AM2 since 2012's Dead or Alive 5, co-developing an Arcade version of the title, as well as on bringing characters from Virtua Fighter to Dead or Alive.

Hayashi leadership and split into two subteams (2013–2022)

In 2013, following a reconstructing of Koei Tecmo, Team Ninja ceased to exist internally, being renamed Koei Tecmo Ichigaya, with Yosuke Hayashi subsequently becoming Head of the Ichigaya Development Group. The developer was also split into two distinct development teams, one led by Ninja Gaiden Sigma director Yosuke Hayashi and one led by Fatal Frame producer Keisuke Kikuchi. Further restructuring at Koei Tecmo in 2016 resulted in Team Tachyon, the developers behind Quantum Theory as well as Rygar: The Battle of Argus being shut down. A large amount of developers were moved to Team Ninja.

In 2017, Team Ninja released their new action role-playing game Nioh to positive reviews. It originally development in 2004 at Koei, and was moved between multiple developers, such as Omega Force, before Koei approached Team Ninja after the merger in 2010 to help develop the game. When first presented with the project by Koei, Team Ninja staff were skeptic about the game's concept, citing the western protagonist in Sengoku-era Japan, as well as various mechanics. Despite these uncertainties, development was fully transferred to Team Ninja in 2012. Nioh received multiple awards, and became Team Ninja's best-selling game. They released Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order for the Nintendo Switch in 2019 as well as Dead or Alive 6. Team Ninja released the prequel to Nioh, Nioh 2, in March 2020. A compilation of Ninja Gaiden series, Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection, released in June 2021. Team Ninja also developed Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, which released in 2022.

Cancelled games

Dead or Alive: Code Chronos - A prequel to the Dead or Alive series which was going to focus on the backstory of Kasumi and Ayane and reportedly was not going to be a fighting game. It was cancelled in November 2010.

Project Progressive - A project that was originally planned for the Xbox, but its development moved to the Xbox 360. It was cancelled in November 2010.

Ninja Gaiden 3DS - A Nintendo 3DS project announced by Team Ninja in 2011. It was quietly cancelled at a later date.

Controversies

Depiction of women

Team Ninja's provocative style, originally coined by Itagaki, is a point of contention in discussion of its works. While often having been praised, with Dead or Alive's Kasumi being regarded as a sex symbol and MTV UK labeling her as one of the sexiest characters in video games, Team Ninja has also been accused of objectifying women. In a 2012 Interview with Kotaku, Yosuke Hayashi said that Team Ninja was "very misinterpreted" outside of Japan, and that there was no derogatory intention in their creation process: "We can't help if other cultures in other countries around the globe think that it's a bad representation." In 2016, Team Ninja garnered attention after their decision to not release Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 in North America or Europe, reigniting a controversy within the video game industry about the sexualised portrayal of female characters within their games. Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Interactive Entertainment at the time, said that Europe and North America have cultural differences about how to depict women in media.

Violence in Ninja Gaiden II

In 2008, the German Rating Board USK refused classification for Ninja Gaiden II, banning it for sale in Germany for its excessive violence. The publisher, Microsoft, had no interest in releasing a cut version. This affected the development of the PlayStation 3 version, Sigma 2, as the violence was significantly toned down. Sigma 2 received classification in Germany.

Dead or Alive: Dimensions ban in Sweden and Australia

In 2011, Dead or Alive: Dimensions was banned in Sweden, due to the rating board determining that the characters appeared too young. Due to Sweden's ban on the title, Australian politician Brendan O'Connor urged the Australian Classification Board to reexamine the title, resulting in the game getting its classification revoked and being removed from sale. Nintendo, the publisher of the game in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, stated that Dead or Alive: Dimensions contained no objectionable content and resubmitted the game. The classification was reinstated shortly thereafter.

EVO Japan 2019 shutdown

In 2019, Team Ninja garnered controversy due to a livestream of Dead or Alive 6 at Evo Japan 2019 featuring gravure idols. The livestream was forcibly shut down by the Evolution Championship Series. The co-founder and CEO of EVO, Joey Cuellar, issued an apology saying that "the stream does not reflect the core values of EVO" and that they had to end the stream to "protect the integrity" of EVO. Mark Julio, head of global business at EVO, appeared live during the tournament to issue an apology, saying that the content showcased by a partner of EVO would not "reflect the content and intention" of EVO. Evo 2020 was cancelled and Cuellar removed as CEO due to a history of sexual abuse towards male minors coming to light.

Rise of the Rōnin not releasing in South Korea

According to reports, Rise of the Rōnin would not be released in South Korea, due to Fumihiko Yasuda comparing Shoin Yoshida, a controversial figure in South Korea, to Socrates. In a statement to gameindustry.biz, Sony gave official confirmation that the game would not release in South Korea, but did not provide a reason.