Phil Spencer Revives Ninja Gaiden Franchise

According to Team Ninja producer Fumihiko Yasuda, the studio has been eager to develop a new installment in the Ninja Gaiden series for quite some time but struggled to finalize a concept. The turning point came when Koei Tecmo president Hisashi Koinuma and PlatinumGames head Atsushi Inaba discussed the project. Subsequently, Phil Spencer from Xbox joined the conversation and proposed a collaboration among the three companies to kickstart the game's development.

Phil Spencer revealed that discussions had been ongoing since 2017, following his initial talks with Team Ninja about a potential sequel. After years of dialogue, they identified the ideal partner in PlatinumGames, renowned for its expertise in crafting high-speed action games such as Bayonetta and NieR: Automata.

Last week saw the exciting announcement of Ninja Gaiden 4. Alongside this news, a re-release titled Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, an enhanced version of the Xbox 360 classic, was unexpectedly made available on Xbox, PS5, and PC.

The first trailer for Ninja Gaiden 4 highlights Ryu Hayabusa as the protagonist in this thrilling action game. The gameplay trailer showcases innovative mechanics unique to this installment, such as swift movement across areas using wires and rails.

While DOOM: The Dark Ages was the main event at Developer_Direct, Ninja Gaiden 4 also stole the spotlight. This anticipated sequel from Koei Tecmo's beloved series was unveiled during the event and is set to launch in the fall of 2025.