Tomonobu Itagaki, best known as the creator of the Dead or Alive series and the Ninja Gaiden reboot series, has died at the age of 58. Itagaki joined Tecmo in 1992 and would head Team Ninja. He was producer and director on the first four Dead or Alive games, the first two Ninja Gaiden reboot series that started in 2004, and more. He would leave Team Ninja in June 2008 and would form a new studio, Valhalla Game Studios, alongside several other Team Ninja employees. The developer would release Devil’s Third for the Wii U in 2015. It would eventually be dissolved in December 2021. However, Itagaki Games would be formed shortly after. Read a message posted on Itagaki’s personal Facebook page (translated by Gematsu) below: My Last Words The light of my life is finally about to fade. The fact that this message has been posted means that the time has come at last. I am no longer in this world. (This final message was entrusted to someone dear to me.) My life was a series of battles. I kept on winning. I also caused a lot of trouble. I take pride in having fought through to the end according to my own convictions. I have no regrets. However, I am filled with sorrow that I was unable to deliver a new work to my fans. I’m sorry. That’s how it is. So it goes. -Tomonobu Itagaki A life-long and avid gamer, William D’Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky. Full Article.