A Ninja Gaiden reboot is reportedly being made. Ninja Gaiden is a long-running and popular action game franchise, originating in 1988 with a beat 'em up arcade game and a beloved 2D action-platformer made for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Ninja Gaiden has been largely absent since the 2012 conclusion of the Team Ninja trilogy and a 2014 hack-and-slash spin-off. That appears set to change, however, with Team Ninja confirming Ninja Gaiden is coming back.
While the original Ninja Gaiden action-platformers are well-loved, most fans of the franchise will likely associate the name with Team Ninja's trilogy of hardcore 3D action hack-and-slash games. Released in 2004, 2008, and 2012, the trio of Team Ninja's Ninja Gaiden titles were both embraced and spurned for their brutally difficult cinematic combat and graphic violence. Series protagonist Ryu Hyabusa would slice at incredibly challenging foes, often dismembering or decapitating them -- at least until the violence was toned down in Ninja Gaiden 3.
According to Noisy Pixel, the announcement of a new Ninja Gaiden game being made came directly from Team Ninja, and not from IP owner Koei Tecmo. Team Ninja provided a keynote presentation at the Korea G-Star conference, a gaming-focused trade show. All that's confirmed is that Team Ninja has said a Ninja Gaiden reboot is being made, but no further details on the project have otherwise been provided.
While this is the first time a Ninja Gaiden reboot has been confirmed, there have been substantial hints that this would happen in the relatively near past. In 2021, Koei Tecmo released a Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection, a bundle including definitive editions of all three of Team Ninja's Ninja Gaiden titles, for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. It could be seen as Koei Tecmo testing the water for Ninja Gaiden's return, or Team Ninja warming up to working on the franchise once more.
Given the lack of information currently available, it's unclear when more will be shared about the Ninja Gaiden reboot. It's possible that the new Ninja Gaiden game is only in pre-production, which would mean years could pass before it's ready for public showing. Team Ninja is known for an aggressive game release schedule, though, so anything's possible.
What a modern Ninja Gaiden title would look like is certainly a mystery. Team Ninja could certainly try and re-create the magic of its previous success, focusing on difficulty and violence. Alternatively, it could do something more modern and turn Ninja Gaiden into an action-RPG like Team Ninja's more recent projects, Nioh and Wo-Long: Fallen Dynasty. Either way, there are going to be a lot of happy Ninja Gaiden fans today.
Ninja Gaiden is in development.
Source: Noisy Pixel