Tecmo has responded to Tomonobu Itagaki’s lawsuit and allegations of poor treatment at the hands of the company, and it sounds like the company getting ready for a fight.
Itagaki announced the lawsuit and his resignation from Team Ninja and Tecmo yesterday, claiming the company failed to follow through on promised bonuses for completing Dead or Alive 4, and had also made “demeaning remarks” to his fellow employees, creating an intolerable work environment. Itagaki claims that when he complained about not receiving the promised bonus, he was told to “quit the company or sue it.”
In response to the allegations, Tecmo released a statement today, reported by Kotaku , claiming Itagaki had received annual bonuses for his work at Team Ninja, but that the agreement for the “completion bonus” referenced in his complaint was made with the company’s previous management team and not the current regime. The statement also makes clear the company’s position that despite his celebrity status, Itagaki was only one part of a group effort behind the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive games produced by Team Ninja.
“Our company getting sued by this employee is a huge problem,” the statement said. “The reasons for making this lawsuit public are self-centered. What’s more this employee is filing suit for himself and making it seem like he alone is responsible for the development of the game titles the rest of the Team Ninja staff had poured its heart into.”
Despite Itagaki’s forthcoming resignation, Tecmo also pointed out that Team Ninja was not sitting idle. “Team Ninja is currently working on a line-up of new titles,” the statement continued. “All of Team Ninja is starting to work together on interesting new game titles.”
Tecmo’s full response to Tomonobu Itagaki’s lawsuit is available here. (PDF format and Japanese, so good luck.)
