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Today, Tecmo Co. Ltd. announced that Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda will resign. The Board of Directors accepted Yasuda's resignation — which was for "personal reasons". Starting September 1st, Chairman of the Board Yasuharu Kakihara will assume the position of Tecmo's president. More »
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Yesterday, we broke the news that the second round of oral arguments for Itagaki vs. Tecmo commenced in Tokyo. Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki is suing for unpaid DoA 4 wages. These were "special incentive" wages that Itagaki claims were agreed to by the former Tecmo president and the board of directors, but the current president is claiming these "special incentive" wages were made single-handedly by the former president and not approved by the Tecmo board. As we posted earlier, last month Itagaki left Tecmo and filed suit for unpaid bonuses. As Itagaki stated then, "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.'" More »
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Click to viewAs we broke earlier today, the second round of oral arguments in the Itagaki vs. Tecmo suit commenced. Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki is suing for unpaid DoA 4 wages. These "special incentive" wages were agreed to by the former Tecmo president and the board of directors claims Itagaki, but the current president is claiming these "special incentive" wages were made single-handedly by the former president and not approved by the Tecmo board. Early last month, Itagaki left Tecmo and filed suit for unpaid bonuses. As Itagaki stated then, "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.'" More »
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Yesterday, Itagaki vs. Tecmo commenced with Itagaki's lawyer submitting into evidence the contract he had supporting his completion bonus for Xbox 360 title Dead or ALive 4. Tecmo's lawyers submitted a somewhat identical-looking contract, differing in that it did not support Itagaki's claims that he was entitled to a completion bonus. Hrm. Someone it seems is lying, and other evidence seems to indicate that Tecmo isn't exactly being truthful about overtime — which is a totally separate case altogether. More »
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And the Itagaki vs. Tecmo legal battle continues! On June 10th, Tecmo filed with the Tokyo District Court for a "gag-order" against former employee and Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki before the court case begins. The provisional disposition includes the following four points, prohibiting: More »
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The Itagaki-Tecmo pissing match may have hit a new level of animosity. 1Up, attributing only "word on the street," reports that as many as 36 key members of Team Ninja are walking, and preparing a class-action lawsuit against Tecmo regarding unpaid bonuses they were due for completed games.Earlier this month Tomonobu Itagaki, who leads/led Team Ninja, announced his intention to quit Tecmo, effective July 1. In his announcement he was PO'd about a company decision not to pay bonuses on a completed game, so, chances are his comrades feel the same. Tecmo, for its part, says the bonus to Itagaki that is in dispute was approved by a previous management team, not the current one.1Up also writes:

Another problem for Tecmo is that in Japan, any lawsuit filed against a publicly-traded company must be immediately reported to its shareholders on the same business day. The fact that Itagaki had actually filed a complaint against Tecmo in Tokyo District Court on May 14, but Tecmo management withheld this information from shareholders, possibly as late as when the notorious developer released his high-profile public statement on June 2, creates even bigger problems for the game publisher. Of course Tecmo still owns Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive, and can hire developers to make all the games it wishes off of those franchises. But if this is true, it's absolutely a fair to wonder what they'll be like without, and how faithful they'd be to the gaming experience so many have come to expect to this point. Rumor: Three Dozen Team Ninja Members Leaving With Itagaki [1Up] More »
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