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Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden Creator Tomonobu Itagaki Dies

The official Facebook account of game designer Tomonobu Itagaki announced on Thursday that he has died. A "final message" from Itagaki stated on the account that if the message has been posted, it means that he has died. Itagaki was 58.

 The message translates:

My final words:

The light of my life is finally fading.

If this message has been posted, it means that time has finally come. I am no longer in this world. (I am asking a loved one to make this final post.)

My life has been one battle after another. I kept winning. I also caused lots of trouble.

I'm proud to say I stayed true to my beliefs and fought to the end. I have no regrets.

However, I am full of sorrow that I could not deliver a new work to all my fans. I am sorry.

It is what it is.

[In English] So it goes.

Itagaki Tomonobu

Itagaki joined Tecmo (later Koei Tecmo) in 1992 as a programmer. At Tecmo, he would launch perhaps his best known series, the 3D fighting game series Dead or Alive, the first installment of which debuted in 1996. The series spawned four sequels (although Itagaki only worked on the series until Dead or Alive 4), as well as spinoffs such as Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball. He also developed the Ninja Gaiden series, based on Tecmo's NES game series of the same name. The first Ninja Gaiden game debuted in 2004, and it spawned two sequels in 2008 and 2012 (although Itagaki only worked on the first and second game in the series).

Itagaki resigned from Koei Tecmo just before the release of Ninja Gaiden II in 2008. He founded Valhalla Game Studios in 2009, and the developer released its first game, Devil's Third, in 2015 for the Wii U. A PC version titled Devil's Third Online launched in 2016, but ended service in 2017. Itagaki resigned from Valhalla Game Studios in August 2017.

Itagaki announced in 2021 that he has established a new studio named Itagaki Games.

Sources: Tomonobu Itagaki's Facebook account, Famitsu via Hachima Kikō