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The veteran designer broke the news on Facebook, explaining he wanted to jump back into the trenches of game development after spending the past four years working as a teacher.

Chris Kerr, News Editor

January 18, 2021

1 Min Read

Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki has established a new game studio called Itagaki Games. 

The veteran designer broke the news on Facebook, explaining he wanted to jump back into the trenches of game development after spending the past four years working as a teacher. 

"For the past four years, I’ve been teaching job to foster juniors, but now I feel like I want to make a game again and just established a company for that purpose," he wrote in an unpublished interview excerpt.

Itagaki rose to prominence in the '90s when he led the creation of the Dead or Alive series for Tecmo, earning a number of promotions as a result of its success. 

After spending the best part of a decade working on the fighting franchise, Itagaki successfully revived the Ninja Gaiden series, but ultimately departed Tecmo a few years later to due a workplace dispute. 

Following his departure, Itagaki founded Devil's Third creator Valhalla Game Studios, but eventually left his post there to help teach the next generation. When asked whether he'd like to work with Microsoft again given his history of creating Xbox-exclusive titles, Itagaki indicated he'd jump at the chance. 

"I trusted [original Xbox creator Seamus Blackley] and actually created Xbox-exclusive games for about 10 years," said Itagaki. "20 years have passed since then, and I established my own company, Itagaki Games, which is not Tecmo, nor Valhalla. I know Microsoft is still aggressive. If they reach out to me, it will be an honor for me"

About the Author(s)

Chris Kerr

News Editor, GameDeveloper.com

Game Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.

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