Tomonobu Itagaki, the Japanese director best known for creating the Dead or Alive fighting series and leading the 2004 revival of Ninja Gaiden, has died at age 58. The news surfaced on October 16, 2025 via a message posted to his personal Facebook account and was quickly reported by gaming outlets; journalist James Mielke also signaled confirmation on Bluesky, according to Push Square. TheGamer likewise reported his passing and age, citing the same Facebook post.
Itagaki joined Tecmo in 1992 and became the public face of Team Ninja before departing in 2008 amid a bonus dispute, as documented at the time by Wired. He later founded Valhalla Game Studios, releasing Devil’s Third (2015), and more recently operated Itagaki Games; a 2024 government notice led to erroneous shutdown reports before outlets clarified the team had reorganized under a new corporate name. His work on high-speed, punishing action design helped shape modern character-action games and elevated both Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive to global prominence.
