Team NINJA is Planning to Reboot Dead or Alive and NINJA Gaiden

Some breaking news has been released today during Team NINJA's keynote at the South Korea G-Star conference by Fumihiko Yasuda that Dead or Alive and NINJA Gaiden reboots will be the future of the company after the release of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty & Rise of Ronin. The final image presented in the breaking story has been translated by key individuals in our community including @WAZAAAAA and @Matt Ponton respectively:

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Team NINJA's Future - Reboot of Popular Series - Images of NINJA Gaiden & Dead or Alive ​

There is a lot of information in this story, and we will break all of it down here at Free Step Dodge, but this looks like extremely positive evidence of a future and now is probably not the time to leave the DOA community if you were planning to jump the fence. We've been covering Team NINJA's Fumihiko Yasuda all year and he checks all of the boxes of a proper president: he's been honest, he's developed legendary games, he's focused on the present and the future.

We don't know all of the details yet, but everyone interested should be inclined to give Yasuda a chance after (in all due respect) the marketing blunder that Yohei Shimbori was vacuumed into as Team NINJA director and producer for Dead or Alive 6. Shimbori was put into a position where he could not excel with DOA6 and was unfortunately retired because of it not to dampen the rest of his career which was a legendary run on his part.

If we find out in ANYWAY that these translations are inaccurate, we will remove them, but as of now they have been double checked, fact checked, site checked and approved for this story release. Also, it's important to consider that the term 'reboot' can mean a wide array of different things, some elements that could have negative impact and some elements that could have positive impact and we ask that you consider that when discussing the future of the games. Seeing as how Yasuda has been as transparent as he can be to a global audience; this is a good indicator of things to come.

 

Not like SF6 but rather simple effects that makes you feel that you are actually punching someone or making a hit or effects on the swing that makes you see the actual range of an uppercut or a round house kick. For the projectiles ( blasts, kunais, shurikens, hidden wires) ...maybe they can use it as a stun move or for example Christie using some sort of wire to grapple or hold the enemy to make it look appealing. If Nyotengu can use a fan for fighting why not the other characters. Just simple things not too drastic. Fore some new characters, I think they can use some elemental attacks like how they used fire on Mai, Ice on Kula, Wind on Nyotengu, cherry blossoms on Kasumi, dark aura on Honoka's punches...Maybe a ground attack would look nice too depending on the size of the character. Nico is using electricity so seeing other characters with such would be a nice touch I think. For me it's better to create something fresh and new but still implementing the old styles but better to satisfy the old and new fans. One things for sure is that I am open to change.

 

Following modern trends is exactly how we got DOA6 in it's current state though, DOA needs to go back to it's roots of being the trend setter not a trend follower. DOA2 was such a big deal because it was absolutely insane graphically and having dynamic stages that break apart and continue the fight was completely unheard of in 1999.

 

I'm not trying to poke the bear, and I do not think I can see the legitimacy to it, but this is the latest news rumor to hit the Internet:

Ninja Gaiden Reboot is Being Developed by PlatinumGames – Rumour

It's been claimed that Bayonetta and Vanquish developet PlatinumGames has partnered with Team Ninja to develop a new Ninja Gaiden title.

gamingbolt.com

To me it seems like the gaming news outlets are going to make attacks directed at Team NINJA & KOEI TECMO until they get the answer they want to type. Meanwhile I think the subtle wink to the community is enough for us to hold onto for now. For Tom Lee - it's going to get harder to respond to the press about these things.

There will be more news soon; I'm sure. They probably want to get Tom Lee to slip, but I think the whole team will likely be quiet from now on. They've said what they needed to say, they created some interest and now we will see where all this goes.

 

Following modern trends is exactly how we got DOA6 in it's current state though, DOA needs to go back to it's roots of being the trend setter not a trend follower. DOA2 was such a big deal because it was absolutely insane graphically and having dynamic stages that break apart and continue the fight was completely unheard of in 1999.

The one modern trend they need to follow is having rollback and crossplay tho. Everything else I agree.

 

seems that doa would be develop by a third party company as well

cutting the story short

"anything goes wrong blame that company not us" - team ninja

 

Well, if Mr. Rando On Twitter is right, that's far from the worst scenario I can think of, personally. I'm also a fan of Platinum and their games, but as far as action games go, nothing has ever topped NG and how TN got its action gameplay to feel so good. Would be weird for former DMC (and current Bayonetta) devs to be working on a new NG, gameplay-wise, but it'd be interesting for sure (depends on how much they start it from scratch or if any DNA from the previous games is in it). And if Yasuda is overseeing it, I wouldn't worry much about it.

Platinum working on a fighting game like DOA would be even more interesting, tho.

 

It would be best for platinum to never touch NG lol. Imo. They are one of the most overrated game companies. Bayo is cool and all but… no.
And outsourcing NG or a mainline DOA sounds so lame. NG3 was trash but NG3RE did fix it up pretty well. Take that with NG1 world/levels and it would be great. Again, imo.

 

I'd definitely be much more interested in the DOA reboot if another company developed it. Just because it would be a fresh interpretation of DOA that would probably play really different. Or even someone outside of TN that has fighting game experience gets hired on to direct the reboot.

The biggest problem in DOA's future is still KT. It'll have a stick of gum budget and have all sorts of shit rushed/cut. They have to be involved with all the decision making instead of leaving TN to their own devices. So outsourcing it is a chance to get a game without KT's influence.

KT has no respect for DOA and considers it trash. It would need to be set in the three kingdoms period for KT to give a shit, but I don't think women even had bikinis then.

 

Platinum working on a fighting game like DOA would be even more interesting, tho.

I'm actually opposite on this one. I don't know of PlatinumGames history of fighting games, but them handling Ninja Gaiden is a bit more believable and probably worth it since they have a strong track record for action Hack-N-Slash (I can't speak for Babylon since most of that issue was also Square Enix).

I always believed that when you have another studio work on a particular series, it has to be compatible/reputable one with prior experience on such games of a similar genre. In DOA's case if you had to get another company to do it, I feel it would make sense to ask another who's familiar with 3D fighters as a whole. Closest one I can think of to fit that bill is SEGA since DOA for the most part, was based off VF like a sort of VF lite with basically fanservice attached to it. If such a thing was possible, maybe DOA would of been under the Dragon engine (or in-house engine too I guess) but the likelihood of that ever happening is almost slim to none, heck Harada actually does like DOA and even I can't see that happening under him. If we were in a paradox timeline where KOF was on the verge of death and the last option they had was to outsource it, who could potentially handle it? probably Capcom. Why? well hate it or love it, but Capcom does has history of 2D fighters, has worked with SNK before, and a company that will probably sell. If by some miracle it ends up as a bad product, then both of them messed up but it probably still sold like hot cakes because it's Capcom.

I wouldn't even put Namco to do it, but I would hold a firm trust with them than Platinum when it comes to the fighting game scenes since Namco at least has history of it. Obviously the best course is to let TN do it, but if they couldn't even do that then not sure where to go from there lol. If someone out there has has to do it then so be it. Outsourcing isn't even that bad, it just depends on who going to put it on the map imo so hey, maybe Platinum might prove me wrong and blow my mind if it was true.

 

@DestructionBomb Yeah, I take that back, as it'd be interesting to see Platinum try their hand at their own fighting game, but not DOA. I think Platinum's take on an FG could either turn out amazing or terrible, but I'd be interested to see them try. But I don't want any fresh takes on DOA, I want to see a DOA that gets everything right for once when it comes to everything it's supposed to get right before any more experimenting. We need the definitive DOA game. My thought was that Platinum are at least skilled developers and that Yasuda and TN would be able to work with them and work on what's already there, which might be better than the kind of outsourcing they did for DOA6 at least. But I think if Platinum isn't the right fit, neither is Capcom or Dimps or other FG devs as they might not stay true to the DOA series and understand what makes the series so loved by fans. But SEGA and VF's devs, yeah, that I can see, more than any other team they could outsource to (but I've read rumors that they're actually working on VF6 now, so...). I think ultimately, it's just gotta be TN again and no one else, and preferably their A-Team (the devs on Nioh and their other recent hits). Even if they screwed up before, they've just gotta try again.

I think most fans just want them to fix the things that are broken and not fix what isn't broken, not overhaul everything or start from scratch. That's why I can't help but be worried by words like "outsourcing" and "reboot".

 

Nah it needs a reboot. This will be the chance once and for all to wash their hands of all the filth DOA4 left behind.

I'll never understand why people want new games to play like the old ones, especially when they are very flawed.

 

I think most fans just want them to fix the things that are broken and not fix what isn't broken, not overhaul everything or start from scratch. That's why I can't help but be worried by words like "outsourcing" and "reboot".

I think that's where some problems are intact. They tried to fix things and when they do try to fix things another new problem arises based on the problem that was fixed or created new problems outside of it. It ends up being this endless cycle where they legitimately do not know what to do with the series.

Because of it, I think this so-called "reboot" doesn't seem like a bad option at all with what comes out of it. Granted "reboot" is a word that can get pretty vague since it has different terms of what exactly entails as a reboot. Reboot the story and it's characters entirely? reboot the entire system and it's gameplay? maybe both? it's probably the closest things to getting something permanently fixed that created new problems. Some people on other DOA groups think doing a reboot is giving up because it's starting over, but it could be a start of a new journey away from the shitstorm that Itagaki left on DOA that came into this situation in the first place.

Me on the other hand, I would of been already worried if they had a DOA7 on the way because of what happened with DOA6 lololol. DOA7 could of been another game where they barely get support or struggle to even greenlight a DOA7, and then everyone would of been back to square one with how much copium they have for the series. I heard devs had to fight just to even get a new DOA. The series is legit in a situation of having it rough all around. Maybe it does need a reboot. I definitely get where you are coming from on being worried though, it's understandable.

 

Ok, so if reboot really means starting over from scratch, does anyone think they'd go as far as to make an entirely new engine, all new models and animations, without building on (reusing) anything technical from the previous games? I mean, not saying that'd be a bad thing, as long as it's done keeping in mind what made the pre-DOA6 games so great/successful. I'm only asking because I wonder if KT would go that far and decide the series is worth that level of effort and budget, for that kind of overhaul.

 

So does everyone here think that when TK hitting the reset button, DOA5LR on steam is released as an inferior port of the arcade version and DOA 6 having an autographic bug during online matches will magically go away? Both games are charging for overpriced cosmetics and season passes. I want the zambooka they are smoking please. Does it help that other FG communities look at us funny because of the stigma and reputation we carry for liking what we like?

This I still gotta see.

 

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1595520081315991552

 

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1595520081315991552

Once again. They are not going to share additional information about these franchises until they are cleared to do so. The fact that they were mentioned was news enough as many people felt that they didn't care about DOA. Clearly, they care about DOA or it wouldn't have been brought up at all. This should still be seen as good news for players.

Remember those slides are official Team NINJA slides. They say reboots are in the series future for NINJA Gaiden and DOA. This is their official content. They just don't want to talk about it now.

 

If they do reboot the story, will it be ninja family soap opera all over again?

I kinda just want Kasumi and Ayane to get along.

 

I think it'll be a long time before we get a new DOA/NG although I feel like Ninja Gaiden might come sooner than DOA. Team Ninja just announced that the Nioh series has sold over 7 million copies. While the Ninja Gaiden series has sold 6.8 million (this is before the Master Collection came out). So the two Nioh games has sold more than the Ninja Gaiden series. Although varies versions of Ninja gaiden games were exclusive to one console and Nioh was exclusive to PlayStation and PC.

Nioh series shipments and digital sales top seven million

Total worldwide shipments and digital sales for the Nioh series have surpassed seven million units, publisher Koei Tecmo and developer Team Ninja announced.

www.gematsu.com

Ninja Gaiden series has sold 6.8m copies to date

The Ninja Gaiden series has apparently shifted over 6.8 million copies to date. That's according to developer Team Ninja's website for the upcoming Master Collection compilation, which touts this...

www.pcgamesinsider.biz

I don't think they can get those sales numbers with DOA. So the higher ups probably won't greenlight a new DOA or maybe they will but give it a low budget. Not sure how accurate this is, but this is the closest sales data on DOA that I could find.

DOA2-DOA4 were console launch titles so that probably helped their sales.

Although DOA can make more money from DLC. I feel like DOA5 had the best version of gameplay in the DOA series. It can be further refined and better stages/content added but that won't make it grow that much more in popularity. I think there's still an audience for 3D fighters. Tekken is still doing good. Tekken 7 has sold over 9 million copies. I don't want they to make DOA into Tekken but maybe they can learn some things from the Tekken series. I think the soulslike games are more popular right now. Team Ninja pretty much took the Souls formula and made Nioh, which I prefer more. Technically they did the same thing with DOA as it was based off of Virtua Fighter.

 

I don't know if I'm in the minority that feels this way, but DOA5 felt/played very different from previous DOAs. Not entirely better, but different, but DOA5U/LR did what they did very well, and next to DOA6, the consensus is that DOA5LR was the best of its kind of gameplay (and DOA3.1 is the best of DOA2-DOAD, and then DOA1 is its own thing). As much as I'm fine with how DOA5 played, and it's great for CMVs (but then, maybe DOA6 is even more-so), they should really look back at the pre-DOA5 games, especially stage design (which I will repeat forever until they somehow hear me).

I do also think NG is gonna be up before DOA, or at least I think it should. Who knows, maybe they can find a way to work on them simultaneously and have them connected in some way. Also, it's worth remembering that the first Ninja Gaiden for Xbox was a reboot itself, so the NG series isn't new to rebooting, although that was going from 2D to 3D (though, I'm honestly kinda sad the 2D games didn't continue on at the same time, like other series such as Metroid did... I'd love to see a new 2D NG, even though there have been "spiritual successors" from the indie scene the past few years).

If they do reboot the story, will it be ninja family soap opera all over again?

I kinda just want Kasumi and Ayane to get along.

Would have been better if the story evolved to that point somehow. You know, have actual character development, arcs, resolutions, new arcs... lol

 

I think it'll be a long time before we get a new DOA/NG although I feel like Ninja Gaiden might come sooner than DOA. Team Ninja just announced that the Nioh series has sold over 7 million copies. While the Ninja Gaiden series has sold 6.8 million (this is before the Master Collection came out). So the two Nioh games has sold more than the Ninja Gaiden series. Although varies versions of Ninja gaiden games were exclusive to one console and Nioh was exclusive to PlayStation and PC.

Nioh series shipments and digital sales top seven million

Total worldwide shipments and digital sales for the Nioh series have surpassed seven million units, publisher Koei Tecmo and developer Team Ninja announced.

www.gematsu.com

Ninja Gaiden series has sold 6.8m copies to date

The Ninja Gaiden series has apparently shifted over 6.8 million copies to date. That's according to developer Team Ninja's website for the upcoming Master Collection compilation, which touts this...

www.pcgamesinsider.biz

I don't think they can get those sales numbers with DOA. So the higher ups probably won't greenlight a new DOA or maybe they will but give it a low budget. Not sure how accurate this is, but this is the closest sales data on DOA that I could find.

DOA2-DOA4 were console launch titles so that probably helped their sales.

Although DOA can make more money from DLC. I feel like DOA5 had the best version of gameplay in the DOA series. It can be further refined and better stages/content added but that won't make it grow that much more in popularity. I think there's still an audience for 3D fighters. Tekken is still doing good. Tekken 7 has sold over 9 million copies. I don't want they to make DOA into Tekken but maybe they can learn some things from the Tekken series. I think the soulslike games are more popular right now. Team Ninja pretty much took the Souls formula and made Nioh, which I prefer more. Technically they did the same thing with DOA as it was based off of Virtua Fighter.

DOA5 and DOA6 sold fine. Around 20 million FTP downloads for DOA5 + DOA6 alone with Team NINJA's hopes of DLC being purchased. Big DLC numbers overall; especially with Marie Rose. DOA's entire series has proven to sell over 10 million physical copies which is more than NINJA Gaiden and Nioh. Keep in mind that these figures do not even count anything because VGChartz got progressively lazy over time. So, I rounded off the 9.7 number and I expect that they have done more than 10 million in sales.

Remember that a lot of VGChartz games do not include all digital sales (especially for games 10 years old +). So, while NINJA Gaiden might look a little lighter than it should plenty of game sales for remasters were clearly not counted. The digital sales of NG and Nioh I do not know. That being said Nioh can't yet hold a candle to DOA or NG in all-time sales. Also let's not forget DOAXVV. That game makes more money than any Team NINJA game so there is no doubt they want to make as much money as they can off the characters.

Video Game Charts, Game Sales, Top Sellers, Game Data - VGChartz

VGChartz - extensive game chart coverage, including sales data, news, reviews, forums, & game database for PS5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch & PC

www.vgchartz.com

Video Game Charts, Game Sales, Top Sellers, Game Data - VGChartz

VGChartz - extensive game chart coverage, including sales data, news, reviews, forums, & game database for PS5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch & PC

www.vgchartz.com

DOA: 10M + 20M FTP
NINJA GAIDEN: 10M (no idea what digital sales are for the series, but I'll do a study on it)
NIOH: 7M