The popular fighting franchise Dead or Alive, used by fighting stars during the CGS run, is apparently more dead than alive these days. Many fans had eagerly anticipated the release of DOA5 but it appears that isn’t going to happen. Ex-Team NINJA leader Tomonobu Itagaki has moved on to a new fighting game according to 1UP:

1UP: Can you tell me who else from Team NINJA is in your new company now?

HM: Well, I can give you a list, but it’s probably faster to just tell you that we got all of the leads and directors and such.

1UP: All of them?

HM: Well, you see Okamoto, the producer here, and Ehara and me, the directors. We got Maeda and Sasaki, the engineering leads. These guys are amazing, they put together a brand new game engine in less than a year.

1UP: Does that mean you’re coming up with a brand new title?

KE: That’s right. That’s why we made an entirely new company.

HM: We also got Motosa, the animation lead. He worked with me to create the high quality and quantity of animations in Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden. This guy is young, but he’s good.

YO: We’re also working with Onishi, the cinematics lead.

HM: He was in charge of all of the cut-scenes in Ninja Gaiden. He’s also always been my right-hand man. We also have Inamori, the audio lead, and the guys from the level design team.

To read more of the interview click here.