Tomonobu Itagaki sadly passed away this month at the age of just 58. The news was posted on his Facebook account and confirmed by several of his acquaintances.
During his career, Itagaki was notably behind the Dead or Alive franchise at Tecmo, the first installment of which was released in 1996. He then brough back the Ninja Gaiden IP in 2004 before leaving the Japanese company four years later. In 2008, he founded Valhalla Game Studios and released Devil’s Third. Finally, in December 2021, he created another studio, Itagaki Games, which has yet to release any games.
An iconic figure in Japanese video games scene has left us. Rest in peace.
