During today’s Xbox Developer_Direct, a huge surprise dropped. Ninja Gaiden 4 has been in development by Team Ninja and PlatinumGames with an expected release window of Fall 2025. The team also announced a surprise release of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, a remaster of the 2008 game, and it is available today But the buzz will be around Ninja Gaiden 4, the first new mainline entry in 13 years. Those contributing to the project include Fumihiko Yasuda, Head of Team Ninja and Ninja Gaiden 4 producer at Koei Tecmo Games, and Yuji Nakao, Ninja Gaiden 4’s producer and director from PlatinumGames.
Ninja Gaiden 4 will be a direct sequel to Ninja Gaiden 3, but players will take on the role of a new protagonist named Yakumo. Sharing more details about the game, Nakao said Ninja Gaiden 4 will maintain the dark and gritty world that has helped make the franchise popular, but players will be thrown into a gruesomely transformed Tokyo. The story revolves around the return of the Dark Dragon and Yakumo will have to face off against his foes, including Ryu Hayabusa. Although players will control a new protagonist, Ryu Hayabusa will play a significant role in the story, appearing throughout the game and will also be playable.
The announcement trailer shows off Yakumo and the new mechanics being introduced in the game, including traversal using wires and rails. These additions aim to maintain the tension throughout the game, even when there’s no combat. It’s all about adversity for Yakumo, Nakao explained, with the goal of maintaining the sense of challenge throughout the entire game experience. Of course, if you are a veteran of the series, you are probably wondering about the game’s anticipated difficulty. Nakao touched on this aspect, saying that he personally believes the difficulty level of Ninja Gaiden 2 had a lot of standout qualities—so expect that to heavily influence Ninja Gaiden 4. Probably a strong reason they also released Ninja Gaiden 2 Black today, huh?
On paper, the collaboration of Team Ninja with PlatinumGames sounds like a match made in heaven for a new Ninja Gaiden game. However, it’s worth mentioning that PlatinumGames underwent some major shakeups in 2023, including co-founder Hideki Kamiya’s departure. That being said, it looks and sounds like the game is in very good hands, with development well underway since we already have a release window this year. As someone who grew up playing the franchise, going back to the NES, I could not be more excited by today’s announcements.
