Much has been said about Tomonobu Itagaki’s sudden departure from Team Ninja, but one semi-important piece of the puzzle has neglected to pipe up — until today, that is.
Tecmo, Itagaki’s former employer and current target for a lawsuit, has finally answered questions concerning Team Ninja’s status now that its sunglasses-clad leader has left the clan.
“Team Ninja… is intact and, as a matter of fact, have several new projects already underway. Team Ninja is, more than ever, committed to producing compelling and cutting edge games in order to maintain its reputation as a high quality developer and to continue to receive the support of its loyal fans,” read a statement mailed to Wired.
But will Team Ninja still maintain their standard of excellence without their whip-cracking katana-wielding head in place? And tumultuous events like these typically signal the departure of multiple employees, so Team Ninja may still lose some of their best and brightest in the midst of the wreckage. With any luck, however, my doom-saying will turn out to be just that, and Team Ninja will continue to be the premier ninja-based development studio in gaming.
