Dead Or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki dead at 58 – leaves apology note to fans

‘My life was a continuous battle which I kept winning’, have become the last words of Ninja Gaiden director Tomonobu Itagaki.

Games industry veteran Tomonobu Itagaki, who was closely associated with the Ninja Gaiden and Dead Or Alive franchises, has died at the age of 58, as confirmed by a close friend.

The news broke via a post on Itagaki’s Facebook page, which it appears he wrote prior to his death and was uploaded by ‘someone important to me.’

While the cause of death has not been confirmed, Itagaki’s final words suggest he knew he was approaching the end of his life. Although he says he has no regrets, he apologises for the fact that he will no longer be able to make any new games.

‘The flame of my life is about to go out. The fact that this message has been posted means that my time has finally come. I am no longer in this world. (I have entrusted someone important to me with this final message),’ reads Itagaki’s post, as translated by Automaton.

‘My life was a continuous battle which I kept winning. I caused a lot of trouble for others too. I take pride in having fought to the end, and having followed my convictions. I have no regrets, but I am deeply sorry that I could not deliver new works to my fans. I’m sorry. So it goes.’

Itagaki’s death has also been confirmed by James Mielke, a close friend and co-founder/director at indie studio Tigertron.

In a Bluesky post, Mielke says, ‘Today I lost someone who was truly like a brother to me. I am gutted to the core. I guess I can say so now that it’s on his Facebook page.

‘He even listed himself as my actual brother on Facebook. Anyone who knows me knows how close we were. RIP, senpai. You will always be a ninja.’

Mielke has also mentioned that he and Itagaki were working on a book together, which Mielke now refers to as Itagaki’s ‘development memoirs’ and has pledged to ‘do everything in my power to bring this to life.’

Itagaki’s career began in 1992 at Tecmo (long before the studio merged with Koei, to become Koei Tecmo), where he started out as a graphic engineer on American football game Tecmo Super Bowl.

He gained prominence with the creation of the Dead Or Alive fighting game series, which he served as producer and director of until 2006 and is infamous for its sexualised character designs.

Itagaki also helped revive the Ninja Gaiden action game series in 2004, where it transitioned from 2D to 3D. The first game, simply titled Ninja Gaiden, and its 2008 sequel were initially exclusive to Xbox hardware but eventually made it to multiple other formats.

Before the launch of Ninja Gaiden 2, Itagaki abruptly announced his departure from Tecmo, adding that he was suing the company and its president for withholding a promised bonus and ‘unreasonable and disingenuous statements’ made against him.

Both Dead Or Alive and Ninja Gaiden have since continued without his involvement, though the former hasn’t seen a new game since 2019’s Dead Or Alive 6.

Ninja Gaiden, meanwhile, is experiencing a resurgence this year thanks to a new 2D game, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, and the upcoming Ninja Gaiden 4, which is a joint project between series developer Team Ninja and Bayonetta studio PlatinumGames.

Itagaki went on to form his own studio, Valhalla Game Studios, but it only ever launched a few games from 2015 to 2016 – including Wii U exclusive Devil’s Third – before shutting down in 2021.

That same year, Itagaki announced another studio – Itagaki Games – although it never announced any games. The studio’s fate, in the wake of Itagaki’s death, is unclear.

Itagaki was famous for his frank attitude and willingness to harshly criticise the competition. Most notably, he had a very public dislike for the Tekken series (which are also 3D fighting games, just like Dead Or Alive), going so far as to label them his most hated games of all time.

Earlier this year, however, Tekken series director Katsuhiro Harada stated that Itagaki had privately apologised for his comments in 2008, and his vitriol was more a marketing strategy to draw media attention.

Harada has also responded to his ‘rival’s death, saying that the last message he received from Itagaki was, ‘Let’s go drinking. Let’s make some noise soon!’

‘Yes, everyone dies eventually …that’s inevitable. But you… isn’t it a bit too soon?’ wrote Harada. ‘Didn’t you say you were going to defeat me someday? Didn’t you come to my wedding, wearing your usual black leather jacket and sunglasses, and call me your comrade-in-arms? Didn’t you tell me to come to you whenever I was in trouble?

‘I never even got the chance to consult you about anything. Honestly… I’m really depressed.’

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