Itagaki LeavesTeam Ninja, Suing Tecmo

[Dante]

Last month, Team Ninja head and Ninja Gaiden director Tomonobu Itagaki suggested in an interview that he would be done with the franchise after the upcoming release of Ninja Gaiden 2. On Monday night we received a clearer picture of just what he meant with the announcement that Itagaki is leaving Team Ninja and suing Tecmo.

1UP received the following confirmation of this news from Itagaki aide Andrew Szymanski:

 

"At approximately 2:30 PM Japan Standard Time today, June 3 2008, an official statement from Tomonobu Itagaki was sent by fax to major Japanese news outlets. In the interest of fair and expedient reporting of this story throughout the English-speaking world, I have been asked by Itagaki to convey this statement to you. Herein find attached Itagaki's official statement, in English, for the benefit of your readers.

 

"...You will likely have questions regarding the content of the statement, or about Itagaki's future plans. I am afraid that I will be unable to answer such questions for the time being; however, rest assured that more information will be forthcoming as soon as it is deemed appropriate to do so."

 

The full text of the letter from Itagaki follows:

 

"I, Tomonobu Itagaki, hereby announce that on the 14th of May 2008 I filed a complaint in the Tokyo District Court against Tecmo Co., Ltd. for unpaid completion bonuses, and against the President of Tecmo, Yoshimi Yasuda, for such unlawful acts as unreasonable and disingenuous statements made towards me, claiming damages in total of 148 million yen. I also announce that this complaint was delivered to the defendants on May 22nd of the same year. In addition, I hereby announce that I have today submitted a letter of resignation to Tecmo Co., Ltd. stating that I will resign as of the 1st of July, 2008.

 

"Before the start of development on Dead or Alive 4, Tecmo Co., Ltd. had agreed to pay a completion bonus to me for this Xbox 360 title, which I produced. However, when the time came for the actual payment, Tecmo Co., Ltd. went against its previous agreement and refused payment. President Yoshimi Yasuda chose not only to violate this agreement, but also turned defiant, telling me 'if you are dissatisfied with the decision not to pay the bonuses, either quit the company or sue it.' In addition, he made demeaning remarks about me to my subordinates and colleagues, causing me significant emotional distress and worsening my personal relationships and work environment. Thus, I have no choice but to resign from Tecmo Co., Ltd.

 

"The conduct of Tecmo Co., Ltd. and its president Yoshimi Yasuda towards me has been unbefitting of a publicly-listed company. I have filed this lawsuit with a strong intent to question the social responsibility of Tecmo Co., Ltd. and its President Yoshimi Yasuda, as well as condemning them for their unjust acts. Today, in addition to announcing the reasons for this lawsuit, I make clear my reasons for resigning.

 

"To All Game Fans

 

"I truly feel sorry to all the fans of the games I have made. Ninja Gaiden 2, which will launch on the 3rd of June will be the last Ninja Gaiden I will create. I will also never be able to make Dead or Alive 5. I regret the circumstances that have forced me to leave Tecmo, where I had worked for so many years, and I regret the disappointment this will cause my fans. However, I can no longer continue to work with President Yoshimi Yasuda, a man who chooses not to honor promises even when he is able to do so. I truly hope that nothing like this happens again in the future."

 

In addition to the allegations made in the letter, we've heard rumblings that Itagaki believes that Yasuda has focused too much on making a profit without a regard for quality. While Itagaki's official announcement does not point to any specific releases, recent Tecmo ports such as Rygar for the Wii and Ninja Gaiden Sigma for the PS3 are possible targets of Itagaki's anger, which would also explain recent interviews where Itagaki has been especially negative toward Sigma and has said that a PS3 port of Ninja Gaiden 2 would not be good. We've even heard rumors that Yasuda wanted to port Ninja Gaiden Sigma (a PS3 port of a rerelease of an Xbox title) to the Xbox 360 before he was talked out of it by Itagaki and others at Tecmo.

In the same interview we linked to above, Itagaki mentions that he intends for his next game to be "a brand new action game" that will be violent like Ninja Gaiden. It's safe to assume that this game will not be with Tecmo and probably that Itagaki knew that already when he started discussing it. We cannot speculate further as to what Itagaki might be up to next, but considering the timing, there's clearly some very bad blood between Itagaki and Tecmo. The outspoken game maker waited until the evening before Ninja Gaiden 2's release to make this announcement, which is sure to leave a slightly bitter taste in the mouths of many fans picking up their next dose of blood-soaked action.

 

1up.com

[killer kirby]

Holy shit, did not see that coming.

 

Wonder what the new DOA and Ninja Gaiden will be like now after the release of Ninja Gaiden 2

[flameboy]

Wonder what will happen to him now? If Microsoft or Sony have any sense they will lap him up exclusively and pour money into him setting up a new studio.

[Guest Jordan]

*sigh* no more DoA?

[Dante]

Mielke at 1up talks:

 

Make of this what you will, and speculate all you want on Itagaki's next move, but what will happen to Tecmo now that its core creative force is walking out of the door on July 1st? The smart money is that Tecmo president (Yasuda) orders up the instant revival of Dead or Alive (via ports), Ninja Gaiden II (ports), and deposits at least some of those funds into the perpetual money-pit known as Bastard Online. With Tecmo's greatest money-maker shaking it loose as of July 1st, the company's financial hopes rests on upcoming titles like Fatal Frame Wii and, uh, Monster Rancher? Whatever you think of Itagaki and Team Ninja, this is most definitely a dark day for Tecmo.

[LazyBoy]

Sad day for the games industry. It will be interesting to see where he goes. Imagine a move to Platinum games, i'm fairly sure my balls would explode.

[Calza]

Yeah it would be quite interesting to see the guy who made Devil May Cry and Itagaki working together.

[Dante]

Microsoft Issues Itagaki Statement

 

Though TeamXbox hasn't received an official confirmation to our previous story regarding statements reportedly from Tomonobu Itagaki and his English-language translator, Andrew Szymanski, that Itagaki has left Tecmo and is suing the company, a spokesperson with Microsoft's Japan office did pass on a statement from his company that certainly eliminates any doubts as to the authenticity of the original e-mail:

 

"Tomonobu Itagaki has decided to leave Tecmo and Team NINJA to pursue other opportunities. We thank Tomonobu Itagaki for the many years he has supported Xbox as he has contributed immensely to the success of the videogame industry as a whole."

 

You can expect more details to come out regarding this stunning development.

[Guest Jordan]

Microsoft:

"Oh shit, looks like all our Tecmo exclusives are going to Sony."

 

Seriously, the fact that DoA5 will never see the light of day is soul destroying for me. I LOVE Itagaki's work... well apart from DoAXVB/DoAX2.

 

But still, i mean. This sucks.

[Dante]

i think we might see ports of DoAXVB with add on wii controls.

[Guest Jordan]

Hmmph, entirely possible but at the same time it would suck real bad.

[Domstercool]

Yeah, low res girlies = baaadness. lol

[Calza]

No that sounds like one of the worse ideas ever...

 

Nah DoA5 is probably still going to be coming out. It was announced way back so they have probably put too much into it development wise to not continue on with it.

[Hellfire]

Hmmph, entirely possible but at the same time it would suck real bad.

 

No that sounds like one of the worse ideas ever...

 

 

And we're the fanboys lol

 

I wonder what he will do though, I doubt anyone can stand him enough to work with him, but he is talented and a big name.

[Calza]

Do you really think there would be a market for that on the Wii, considering it didn't sell well on the 360 I doubt it would be well on the Wii.

 

And also Team Ninja only work on the most powerful systems...

[killer kirby]

Do you really think there would be a market for that on the Wii, considering it didn't sell well on the 360 I doubt it would be well on the Wii.

Well....the Wii does have a bigger market in japan and well...most of the time, Japan games + Japan system = much...much more money then, japan game + American system.

 

And also Team Ninja only work on the most powerful systems...

 

If that was the case, wouldn't Ninja Gaiden II be put on the PS3 instead?

[The Bard]

Didn't Tecmo provide legal defence for Itagaki after those rape allegations? I'm not knocking the guy, but his only great franchise has been Ninja Gaiden, and he's a bit of a one trick pony. I don't see where he's gonna go now.

[McMad]

Itagaki is probably the biggest dick in the videogames industry so I'm not surprised by this news. Still, if the Ninja Gaiden series suffers from his departure then that will be a big shame.

[Hellfire]

Do you really think there would be a market for that on the Wii, considering it didn't sell well on the 360 I doubt it would be well on the Wii.

 

And also Team Ninja only work on the most powerful systems...

 

Considering he made Ninja Gaiden for DS and that Wii has a bigger audience than 360... well, do the math.

Also, it's not a question if he will do it or not or if it would sell, it's the point that it isn't mandatory that the games would suck.

[Calza]

I for one would not like to flail about with the Wii-mote as a girl playing volleyball. Also it as Domstercool said, it would seem like two steps backwards from the 360 version and probably even the xbox version.

 

And I couldn't care whether the Wii has a larger market, DoA Xtreme is a very niche game and the people who are into that sort of game most likely do not fit into the Wii demographic as well as they into the 360/PS3 demographic.

[Hellfire]

Well if you hate motion controls not my problem.

And yes, it's a niche game, for people who usually have more than one console, because they're "hardcore" gamers i.e 360+Wii Of course there is not evidence backing this up, just saying things aren't as black and white as you always like to put them.

[Dante]

Tecmo Responds to Itagaki Resignation

 

Monday's news that game designer Tomonobu Itagaki was leaving Team Ninja and suing Tecmo had to be a powerful blow to the publisher, especially on the eve of Team Ninja's biggest release of this generation -- Ninja Gaiden II. We no longer need to speculate on their thoughts, though. Tecmo sent the following response to this turn of events to 1UP on Wednesday morning:

 

"On June 3, 2008, Tomonobu Itagaki, executive producer of Tecmo-owned development studio Team Ninja, submitted his resignation. Due to the fact that he had recently filed a legal complaint against Tecmo, there was no choice but to accept his resignation. His resignation is effective July 1, 2008.

 

"The legal complaint is in regard to a claim to an incentive bonus linked to a past project. The parties could not reach an amicable resolution to this matter, and Itagaki chose to seek a legal remedy. Tecmo will let the court decide the outcome of this case and will seek a true, fair, and quick resolution.

 

"Most importantly, Tecmo would like to assure its loyal fans that Team Ninja, known for its top-selling and critically acclaimed Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive franchises, is intact and, as a matter of fact, has 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."

 

Though Tecmo's letter has few specifics, one must wonder how soon it will be until they begin digging back into the Ninja Gaiden and DOA franchises that they mentioned without the help of the creator who pushed them to popularity. Would you guys and gals be interested in picking up future titles in those franchises with the knowledge that Itagaki won't be involved in making them?

[Dante]

Things are heating up.

 

Itagaki Didn't Leave Tecmo, He Was Fired

 

This morning about 10:00 a.m. Tokyo Time, the second round of oral arguments for the Itagaki vs. Tecmo case commenced. As we broke early last month, Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki left Tecmo and filed suit for unpaid bonuses. As Itagaki stated then, "President Yoshimi Yasuda chose not only to violate this agreement, but also turned defiant, telling me 'if you are dissatisfied with the decision not to pay the bonuses, either quit the company or sue it.'"

 

In a statement Itagaki released today, he has now increased his claim for damages against Tecmo from the previously announced figure of 148,000,000 yen to 164,000,095 yen. In American money, that's an increase from $1.38 million to $1.53 million. The reason for the increase is due to new developments in the case Itagaki revealed today.

 

In the statement Itagaki released in early June, he announced that he would be leaving Tecmo on July 1st. However, today it came to light that Itagaki was actually fired from Tecmo on June 18th — only weeks after he announced the suit. It's obviously possible to assume this termination was in retaliation to the lawsuit over bonuses he claimed he deserved. What's more, this preemptive act on Tecmo's part could also be seen as a way for the company to get out of paying Itagaki his fixed summer bonus and yearly incentives. According to Itagaki's statement released today, those were to be paid on June 30th. They of course were not.

 

Apparently, no reason was given for Itagaki's termination, and according to him, he was "terminated without reasonable cause." The claim increase Itagaki is asking for simply reflects the wages he should have earned at the end of this June had he not been fired by the company. Under Japanese law, Itagaki can also claim 14.6 percent per year back interest for the Dead or Alive 4 unpaid wages and bonuses. Itagaki has said he plans to do so.

 

 

Secret Tecmo Tapes Reveal Number of the Beast, Insulting Tecmo President

 

In the second round of oral arguments for the Itagaki vs. Tecmo suit, Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki submitted evidence that included an affidavit from Ninja Gaiden II producer Yoshifuru Okamoto, a contract from 2005 that seems to clearly state terms of the Dead or Alive 4 bonus and a voice recording of Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda. Itagaki is suing Tecmo over unpaid DoA4 wages.

 

Kotaku obtained copies of both the secret recording and the contract and translated both for this story.

 

The contract, dated March 4th 2005, covers "special incentives" for Dead or Alive 4. The "special incentives" program was proposed by the former president of Tecmo (the president before current president Yoshimi Yasuda) where all employees would receive a certain percentage of the profits from a big-selling game. The profit points would be distributed among members of the team with the highest share going to the senior employees. In the DoA4 contract Itagaki submitted, it clearly states that he is entitled to 6.66 percent of the earned profits from the project.

 

On January 22nd of this year, Ninja Gaiden II producer Yoshifuru Okamoto taped a conversation with president Yasuda. Why was the producer of Ninja Gaiden II recording conversations with the president of Tecmo? According to Okamoto's affidavit, Yasuda had continually harassed him, calling him an "idiot", stating he was "no good" and saying that Okamoto "had no class." Okamoto claims that he asked for a meeting with Yasuda so that he could understand why he was so negative towards him. During this meeting, Okamoto secretly recorded their conversation. (Note: Okamoto has since left the company and had been contemplating doing so for some time.)

 

And during this meeting, current president Yasuda admits that the special bonus incentive had in fact been submitted and approved by the board of directors before he became president and while he was still section director. Yasuda says that the special incentive scheme had been discussed and a ringi (a type of Japanese corporate approval form) had been signed by the board of directors. This is in direct conflict with Yasuda's court claim that this "special incentives" proposal was made single-handedly by the former president and not approved by the Tecmo board. Therefore, it is invalid. The recording helps support Itagaki's claim that this special incentive bonus was approved by Tecmo's former president and the board of directors, and that the current president knows this.

 

Also, during the conversation, Yasuda called Itagaki a "money grubber" because of the developer's desire to be paid incentives that had been approved by Tecmo. Yet in court, Yasuda has denied calling Itagaki a "money grubber." In Itagaki's statement, the game designer says that this audio recording is only a small part of concrete evidence he has. "I am prepared to reveal this evidence as the need arises for the sake of greater justice," Itagaki states.

 

We have contacted both Itagaki's representatives and Tecmo for comment on the story.

 

Yasuda:

Ok, man, so you definitely won't talk? If you promise not to, I'll talk. Don't say anything, man.

Ok, so I'll turst that you're a real man and will keep your promise.

Itagaki was keeping the Super Incentive from DOA4 all to himself.

You didn't know it, but I was really fighting with that guy.

He got 150,000,000 Yen. And, none of that was approved by the board of directors.

And, how should I put this.... So, Nakamura-san said that if DOA4 doesn't come out by the end of the year, it'll be big trouble. And Itagaki, well, Nakamura-san knows that... Well, guys like Itagaki are pretty easy to figure out. He's a control freak.

And, since he can't control me, me and him were fighting.

And, the Super Incentive bonus, well that's actually different from the normal incentive bonus.

And, it's only for group managers.

 

Okamoto:

That's an impressive name. Super Incentive...

 

Yasuda:

Yeah, Development Manager Incentive, there's also a paper and everything (?)

But, it hasn't been passed by the board of directors.

Even so, Nakamura-san (promised it?), to Kanematsu, and to me.

I used to be a group manager right? Also to Kikuchi, and to Itagaki. So, he clearly promised that this incentive was just for Itagaki, and as a result, Itagaki's all happy and busting his ass.

So, then when I became the company president, what pissed of Itagaki the most, was that Nakamura-san was no longer around, and the Super Incentive was revoked. 150,000,000 Yen

 

Okamoto:

But, you say it was revoked, but it wasn't even approved by the board of directors, right?

 

Yasuda:

Yeah, so they approved it and signed the ringi. However, the Chief of the board wasn't there at the board meeting where Nakamura-san reported on this plan.

 

Okamoto:

hmmmm

 

Yasuda:

So, yeah, there was all that stuff.

And so, when Itagaki is going on about whether he'll quit or not, it's not some thing cool like that, he's actually just saying are you going to pay me the Super Incentive, or not.

He actually already promised it to his wife.

Also, so, how should I put this. Umm, so he said his previous company was really cheap, and that even a company like ours, he said it was all because of him that it was able to come as far as it has, so he said he deserved the Super Incentive. So, I'm telling you this for the first time, Okamoto, but the truth is at that time, me and him really had it out.

 

Okamoto:

Oh, so that's how it happened.

 

Yasuda:

The truth is at that time, I was really against it, Nakamura-san's proposal.

 

Okamoto:

Right at the same time (as when you were arguing with Itagaki???) ?

 

Yasuda:

Yeah. I was against it. The reason why is because... well, everything I said is all in the meeting record, but anyway. If everyone recieves the incentive, that's fine, by why should you, and you alone get it? Isn't everyone working on the game?

To which he replied, "You're like Lenin. You're a communist. This isn't like that, right?"

Oh, and one other thing.

Hey, I can trust you right? Definitely do not pass this on.

 

Okamoto:

Y, Yes.

 

Yasuda:

So there's a thing called "Revokation awards", and it's like a retirement pension. One of the perks of being a board member. During the year, if you are fired, you get somewhere between 100,000,000 and 120,000,000 Yen. I did away with that entirely.

And why did I do that? Because it just doesn't work (we don't have enough money to go around???).

So when I told him this, he said that even after hearing me say such a thing to everyone, that he still needed to do what he had to do, and that he was very particular on the subject. (???)

So, anyway, that was his strange response to what I said.

He wasn't even praising the company president. Go ahead, take your share. Just give me mine too.

So, that was the timing of all this.

At that time, it was when you, and Kanematsu as well, were telling me that if we didn't give Itagaki the incentive, that he would quit, and that our company would be screwed without him.

And I told you, no, it's not like that. Even in the rare event that he did go away, I told you that your job was to work out something with the company president.

So, yeah, that was the timing, right before the infamous drinking party, where at the banquet you praised Itagaki so much.

You told me something like, "Itagaki's looks down because of our new company president", or maybe I misunderstood you.

Also, when I explained my fundamental philosophy to you, I guess I did a bad job. There are plenty of employees who say, "If Okamoto-san's on board, I'll do my best!" But, after that, everyone wonders "Why doesn't Okamoto-san stand up?" So, everyone was saying that someday that day would come.

Truth is, there were just so many things that piled one on top of the other.

So, do you know why Itagaki was following me at that time?

So, yes, it's true that it hasn't passed the board of directors, but since it had been decided and communicated, it would be unfair to Itagaki if he didn't get some sort of bonus, even if the current scheme didn't work out exactly.

So, at that time I thought about it a long time. If we split this payment out over 20 years. 150,000,000 Yen over 20 years, we could get away with paying out just 10,000,000 yen per yer. So I told him that I would speak with the board chief about it. To that guy.

And then all of the sudden, since he's such a money grubber, he's dead inside. He started whining "Mr. President, Mr. President!"

And this came up a second time at the drinking party.

 

Okamoto:

Oh.

 

Yasuda:

And, after that, Itagaki consulted with the board chief, and the board chief said he would definitely not pay it, and they really started fighting. Saying it was fucked up, and how the board chief screwed up by making me President.

 

Note: Chinpokomon wrote above his translation, "...there are a lot of cases where I'm unable to follow the context, so I just did the best I could.

I also think these conversations occurred over a few beers, as the're using informal language, and Yasuda's kind of rambling."

[Choze]

I wish Itagaki the best. Seems like Japanese videogame companies are ruining themselves and getting rid of their main talent. Namco and Capcom have already done the same. No one sould really give a shit about companies that use EA as their role models.

 

Konami, Kojima and MGS seem like the odd ones out.