In the first decade of the 2000s, Tomonobu Itagaki was a major player in the video game industry. Between 2000 and 2008, he produced and/or directed 10 games, all of which were uniquely popular, with most from the Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden franchises. Yet Itagaki released just one game between 2008 and now as a director, that being Devil's Third. It seems Itagaki is ready to get back into the grind, however. He's now confirmed to have opened a new game studio.

Monday morning Itagaki announced the formation of his new studio, Itagaki Games. The announcement was made on Facebook, where he confirmed that he's started the company with the intent of focusing on game creation once more. All that Itagaki shared beyond that is that Itagaki Games is not affiliated with Tecmo, which published his Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden games, nor is it related to Valhalla Game Studios, which Itagaki co-founded and made Devil's Third with.

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Itagaki also clarifies that he has no ties remaining with Valhalla Game Studios in general. He resigned from the studio in 2017 and has spent the years since teaching, fostering juniors. The formation of Itagaki Games represents his feelings regarding wanting to make a game again.

That's all that's currently known about the situation. The creator of the Dead or Alive fighting game (and beach volleyball) franchise, as well as the reboot of the Ninja Gaiden franchise, wants to make games again. It's unclear whether Itagaki Games has the funding to do so, or if it's even begun to hire new employees. Regardless, given Itagaki's history, it's worth paying attention to what he plans to do going forward.

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