A leaker claims that an upcoming Ninja Gaiden game will be developed by PlatinumGames. Ninja Gaiden is a franchise that has been dormant for nearly a decade, outside of spin-offs and remasters. That changed this past week when Team Ninja, the developers of the most recent Ninja Gaiden trilogy, hinted that return is planned -- though that announcement has since been walked back, to a degree. Needless to say, it's going to raise some eyebrows that Team Ninja may not be the team behind the new Ninja Gaiden project.Team Ninja hinted that Ninja Gaiden would be coming back as part of its keynote during the Korea G-Star conference. A follow-up statement clarified Team Ninja had no announcements to make at the moment, but the team is shares fans' "enthusiasm for the return of these beloved titles." Despite the walk back, many Ninja Gaiden fans assumed that Team Ninja would be the studio making leading development. That may not be the case, however.RELATED: Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection Producer Would 'Like to Make' Female-Led Spin-OffFrequent leaker Shpeshal_Nick of XboxEra shared recently what he'd heard regarding the situation on Twitter. Short and simple, Shpeshal_Nick says that he's been told, "the studio signed on to make Ninja Gaiden is Platinum." In other words, Shpeshal_Nick is saying that Koei Tecmo has signed a deal with PlatinumGames to develop a new Ninja Gaiden game. No further details about the project were shared.

The only additional context provided by Shpeshal_Nick is that this is something he's known about for some time. He mentions in a prior tweet that Team Ninja spoiled half of his "future rumour mills" by announcing the new Ninja Gaiden game. The other half of the news is, of course, that PlatinumGames is working on the project. At the very least, that confirms that the Team Ninja's accidental Ninja Gaiden announcement is the same game as Shpeshal_Nick's Platinum project.

To say it's an odd situation would be an understatement. Team Ninja may not be the developer of the new game, but it is a subsidiary of Koei Tecmo. It would be familiar with whether a new Ninja Gaiden game is being made, especially since it made the most recent trilogy in the franchise. It may not have intended to announce a new game, but it could have done so without thinking. Why Platinum would be brought in, however, is a mystery. Perhaps Team Ninja is busy with its action-RPGs, like Nioh, while Platinum does have a lot of modern action game experience.

As for when this leak could potentially be confirmed, there's no way to be sure. With leaked information regarding the project already being shared online, further details regarding Platinum's involvement could be revealed at any time. It could also be years yet before any more information is shared, as the new Ninja Gaiden game is likely very early in development and Platinum likes to take its time. Nevertheless, this news is likely to drive up interest in the return of Ninja Gaiden.

Ninja Gaiden is in development.

MORE: Every Ninja Gaiden Game (& The Consoles They Can Be Played On)