At Koei Tecmo, Dead or Alive Xtreme will be transferred to another studio, while Team Ninja will remain under the leadership of the Nioh 3 producer. The decision will take effect on April 1 of this year.
The reorganization will most strongly affect the Team Ninja studio. Currently, it consists of two divisions. The first will be redirected to the Gust studio, and the second will be split into two parts. In doing so, Gust will receive a new division, which will consist of Team Ninja employees.
The director will remain the Dead or Alive Xtreme producer, Yasunori Sakuda. The remaining part of Team Ninja will be overseen by the producer of the Nioh and Ninja Gaiden series, Kohei Shibata.
Recall that earlier this month, Nioh 3 was released, becoming the fastest-selling game in the series. It was loved by players and garnered 81% positive reviews on Steam, setting a record for Koei Tecmo games in terms of peak online players on the platform. The action RPG can be played on PC and PS5.
As for the Dead or Alive Xtreme series, things are more complicated. The Japanese do not want to release the volleyball simulator in Europe and the USA. The issue lies in the very revealing female character designs. The creators are not prepared to deal with potential complaints from Western gamers.