Team Ninja Previews Landmark 30th Milestone

Koei Tecmo's Team Ninja studio has teased some big plans for the developer's milestone 30th anniversary. Team Ninja is a subsidiary studio of Koei Tecmo, the developer best known for its hack-and-slash action games, specifically its Ninja Gaiden franchise. The Dead or Alive fighting game series is also an emblematic property of Team Ninja, though there hasn't been a new mainline entry in the franchise since 2019.

While Team Ninja is best known for these franchises, the developer has also worked on more action soulslike RPGs in the 2020s. The Nioh series, in particular, stands out, being a soulslike series that takes place in the Edo period. Following that, Team Ninja also collaborated with Square Enix for the Final Fantasy prequel, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, along with another historical fantasy soulslike that was inspired by Chinese mythology, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. 2024 also saw the launch of the PlayStation 5 exclusive Rise of the Ronin, another action RPG that received a lot of critical praise. As gamers enter 2025, the iconic game developer briefly teases some of its plans for the year, as it marks the studio's 30th anniversary.

In 4Gamer.net's round-up of Japanese developer ambitions (as spotted by Gematsu), Team Ninja's Fumihiko Yasuda mentioned the developer's plans for the franchise. He specifically mentions how the team hopes to release titles that are "fitting for the occasion." While Yasuda is vague about the games they're planning for the anniversary, it's likely to be something regarding Team Ninja's Dead or Alive or Ninja Gaiden franchises. "In 2025, Team Ninja will celebrate its 30th anniversary, and we hope to announce and release titles fitting for the occasion," said Yasuda.

Team Ninja's Potential Plans in 2025

Most recently, Ninja Gaiden is making a comeback in 2025, which was announced at The Game Awards 2024 in December. Koei Tecmo and Dot Emu are teaming up for a new side-scrolling entry in the form of Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, which aims to blend the series' classic 8-bit era gameplay and difficulty with some modern touches that bring the game closer to the 3D entries. The last mainline entry in the series was 2014's Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, a very divisive zombie-themed title.

The other iconic IP related to Team Ninja, Dead or Alive, hasn't had a new mainline fighting game entry since 2019's Dead or Alive 6, with the only thing the franchise has gotten in recent years being spin-offs like Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Scarlet and Venus Vacation Prism: Dead or Alive Xtreme. Some fans are hoping that Dead or Alive will get some love from Team Ninja this year for the studio's 30th anniversary. In addition, fans want Nioh to get some love this year.

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