Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is coming Summer 2025

Hi all, on behalf of The Game Kitchen, we’re thrilled to finally disclose the task we’ve worked on for the past two years, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. A partnership with Dotemu, Koei Tecmo Games, and Team Ninja, into which we’re pouring our hearts and souls.

When Dotemu first approached the theater about the possibility of creating a new chapter in this famous story, the media was met with a lot of excitement. It was a once-in-a-lifetime option that couldn’t be missed.
We approached the company with a sincere respect for its value as a monument in the action genre during the late 1980s and the early 2000s when developing the concept. Both the traditional 2D and current 3D iterations stood out for their excellent quality, offering small game, striking visuals, wonderful music, and captivating storytelling.
Our team, a diverse group of people who grew up with Ninja Gaiden, is one of the series ‘ lasting effects on people and continues to inspire engineers. We want to create two Ragebound team members in this assessment post and discuss how Ninja Gaiden’s tradition has shaped their job from various perspectives.
The result artist of our venture, Raul Vivar, is responsible for bringing The Penitent One to living in Blasphemous I and II. Ral was a kid of the 1980s and has been a devoted lover ever since. His first meeting with Ninja Gaiden was in one of the neighborhood galleries, where he was captivated by the intricate design and extensive range of movements Ryu may execute, giving him a real hero warrior vibe. When our task was announced, Raúl was but moved that he shed tears of joy.
When it came to defining the craft design, Raúl explains that high-quality image skill was the obvious alternative, given the line ‘ roots and The Game Kitchen’s prior knowledge. But, capturing the perfect mood necessary intelligent work. Transitioning from the melancholy, classical dark story of Blasphemous to the lively, action-packed world of Ninja Gaiden called for a better cosmetic. This meant incorporating more vibrant colors and cleaner designs, which were inspired by the 90s anime’s powerful experience. Studying the classic sport sprites and reimagining them in higher resolution, unrestrained by color limitations, were a crucial step in the process in order to achieve the desired look.
Rael had to create the flexibility and rate of a warrior with unprecedented detail, smoothness, and pixel artwork in the series ‘ 2D entries, making the animation of the accessible character challenging.
Oriol Tartarin, one of the game developers on the job, has been collaborating attentively with Raúl to establish the person’s behavior and bring the characters to life. Ninja Gaiden and Oriol initially met on the PS3 after watching his older cousin enjoy. His own excitement over the feats of expertise his niece could do with the controller piqued his interest. The game in this new generation was based on the unbroken behavior and substance fight that forces players to advance with a rhythm that feels like dancing through the stage.
Building on this inspiration, Oriol focused on designing a player experience that captures the classic Ninja Gaiden games ‘ fast-paced, hack-and-slash platforming action, while incorporating modern, sophisticated combat mechanics. The goal was to create a seamless flow where players could chain offensive moves and evasions without interruption, resulting in a dynamic, ninja-like spectacle. Moving effortlessly across the stage, whether on the ground, walls, or in the air was crucial to the design.
This freedom of movement enabled the team to create combat scenarios that kept players moving throughout the game, combined with input predictability and immediate responsiveness. The end result is a dynamic design that rewards precision and momentum, creating a constant flow of action.
Both Raul and Oriol both concur that animating the player while maintaining these design pillars has been one of the biggest challenges in development. The challenge was in producing pixel art animations that, on the one hand, accurately depicts the signature moves of a Hayabusa ninja while, on the other hand, reacts immediately to the player’s intentions in every frame.
This required taking into account all potential move cancellations, making sure there were no mistakes made, and making sure there were no mistakes made in every move. Achieving the right game feel has involved a lot of back-and-forth, adjusting animations, timings, and mechanics to strike the perfect balance between satisfying responsiveness and breathtaking spectacle.
It’s a beautiful and difficult task to create a brand-new 2D installment of such a well-known saga. This journey has been incredibly rewarding, however, with such a solid foundation on which to build and a respected team that values the series. We hope that this new chapter’s fans will be as enthralled as we are by seeing Ninja Gaiden’s legacy continue.
In the summer of 2025, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 will be able to purchase Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound.