Team Ninja Teases 30th Anniversary Plans

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Summary

  • Team Ninja teases big plans for its 30th anniversary.
  • Beyond Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive, the studio has developed other successful soulslike RPGs, including the Nioh series and collaborations with Square Enix.
  • Fans speculate what releases could be coming in 2025 from Team Ninja

Koei Tecmo’s studio known as Team Ninja has hinted at some significant projects to celebrate their 30-year anniversary. This subsidiary company is renowned for creating action games, particularly the popular Ninja Gaiden series, and also the Dead or Alive fighting game series, although a new main installment in the latter hasn’t been released since 2019.

Although Team Ninja is famed for their popular franchises, they have also delved into creating more action-packed soulslike RPGs during the 2020s. Notably, the Nioh series, set in the Edo period, stands out as a soulslike title. Additionally, Team Ninja teamed up with Square Enix for the prequel to Final Fantasy, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, and another historical fantasy soulslike game based on Chinese mythology, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. In 2024, they launched Rise of the Ronin, an action RPG exclusive to PlayStation 5 that garnered significant acclaim. As we move into 2025, the esteemed developer offers a sneak peek at their plans for the year, marking the studio’s 30th anniversary.

4Gamer.net’s summary of Japanese game developer ambitions (reported by Gematsu) includes comments from Team Ninja’s Fumihiko Yasuda about their plans for their franchises. He emphasized that they aim to produce games suitable for special occasions. Although Yasuda didn’t specify the exact games, it’s likely they are referring to either the Dead or Alive or Ninja Gaiden series, as these are owned by Team Ninja. Yasuda stated, “In 2025, we hope to announce and launch games that are fitting for our 30th anniversary.

Team Ninja’s Potential Plans in 2025

In late 2025, the iconic game Ninja Gaiden is set to return! This announcement was made at The Game Awards 2024 in December. Collaborating on this project are Koei Tecmo and Dot Emu, who are developing a fresh side-scrolling installment titled Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. Their goal is to merge the original 8-bit era gameplay and challenge with contemporary elements that bridge the gap between the classic 2D games and more recent 3D entries. The last major release in the series, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, from 2014, was a controversial title featuring zombies.

Apart from Team Ninja’s latest project, Dead or Alive, which hasn’t seen a new mainline fighting game since 2019’s Dead or Alive 6, has only produced spin-offs such as Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Scarlet and Venus Vacation Prism: Dead or Alive Xtreme. Fans are eagerly anticipating some attention for the Dead or Alive series this year, as it aligns with Team Ninja’s 30th anniversary. Similarly, fans also hope that Team Ninja‘s action RPG, Nioh, will receive some updates this year.

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2025-01-05 22:13