There had been advance rumours of a new Ninja Gaiden ahead of yesterday’s Xbox Developer Direct, but with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound on the way, many people didn’t think Koei Tecmo would release two games in the same series in the same year. Having two games in a franchise could be confusing, they would steal media attention from each other, and make it feel less exclusive.
But… Koei Tecmo couldn’t care less about this, and in addition to surprisingly both announcing and stealth-launching Ninja Gaiden II Black (PC, PlayStation and Xbox Series S/X – and included with Game Pass), they also announced Ninja Gaiden 4, which premieres this year. However, the latter is not being developed by Team Ninja, but by PlatinumGames, and is also included with Game Pass.
The inclusion of large third-party games with Game Pass from today happens a couple of times a year, but it is still relatively rare. So why Ninja Gaiden 4?
It now turns out that it was Microsoft that pushed for Ninja Gaiden 4 to become a reality and Xbox Game Studios is therefore its publisher. Marketing manager Aaron Greenberg explains on social media that it all “started with @XboxP3 [Phil Spencer] visits with those teams in Japan many years ago”.
In an Xbox Wire interview with Team Ninja head and Ninja Gaiden 4 producer Fumihiko Yasuda, he comments on how it feels to be working with the Xbox team again (the Team Ninja games were Xbox exclusive to both Xbox and Xbox 360 in the early years) and to bring the game straight to Game Pass:
“With titles like the Dead or Alive series and the Ninja Gaiden series—especially the original Ninja Gaiden, Ninja Gaiden Black, and Ninja Gaiden 2—we have a deep history with Xbox. It’s been a long time, but we’re thrilled to bring the latest installment back to Xbox players. Additionally, with the game being added to Game Pass, we’re excited that more people will have the opportunity to experience it.”
Ninja Gaiden 4 will be released for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S/X this autumn – and as mentioned, will be included with Game Pass.