Typically beloved Ninja Gaiden series creator and developer Tomonobu Itagaki has now left his longtime company Tecmo after 16 years, citing conflicts with the company's president Yoshimi Yasuda. Here is an excerpt of the statement made by Itagaki:

Before the start of development on DEAD OR ALIVE 4, Tecmo Co., Ltd. had agreed to pay a completion bonus to me for this Xbox 360 title, which I produced. However, when the time came for the actual payment, Tecmo Co., Ltd. went against its previous agreement and refused payment. President Yoshimi Yasuda chose not only to violate this agreement, but also turned defiant, telling me “if you are dissatisfied with the decision not to pay the bonuses, either quit the company or sue it.” In addition, he made demeaning remarks about me to my subordinates and colleagues, causing me significant emotional distress and worsening my personal relationships and work environment. Thus, I have no choice but to resign from Tecmo Co., Ltd.

He also had some words for the fans:

To All Game Fans

I truly feel sorry to all the fans of the games I have made. NINJA GAIDEN 2, which will launch on the 3rd of June will be the last NINJA GAIDEN I will create. I will also never be able to make DEAD OR ALIVE 5. I regret the circumstances that have forced me to leave Tecmo, where I had worked for so many years, and I regret the disappointment this will cause my fans.

However, I can no longer continue to work with President Yoshimi Yasuda, a man who chooses not to honor promises even when he is able to do so.

I truly hope that nothing like this happens again in the future.

Tecmo Co., Ltd. Creative Officer

Leader, Team NINJA

Tomonobu Itagaki

Sounds pretty rough, though I do think it is important to hear Tecmo's side of the story (Update: see it here), and an impartial party's as well.

So, looks as though there was probably more to the statement of Ninja Gaiden II being the last in the series than we had thought. If this means we're not getting more NG because of Yasuda (I'm purposely not including a -san on the end of that), then that's just sad; such a shame when legalities and conflicts such as this have to get in the way of art and entertainment.

I've had respect for Itagaki-san for a long time, myself. He's the kind of person you don't have to agree with at all, and that's perfectly fine, you can still find him enjoyable. But say about him what you will, the man was nothing but honest. I particularly respected his position on violence in video games. I think it was really nice of Itagaki to release a statement directly to the fans, and this is in keeping with his character. Best of luck to him, and I anticipate more titles in the future up to par with the Ninja Gaiden series.