Ninja Gaiden 4 is the Xbox Developer Direct mystery game, and is being co-developed by Team Ninja and PlatinumGames

techradar.com:

It's a glorious day for character action game fans as we witness the return of a long-dormant franchise: Ninja Gaiden.

Announced as the Xbox Developer Direct's surprise title, Ninja Gaiden 4 will be releasing some time in 'Fall 2025' for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC and PS5. It'll also be available from day one on Xbox Game Pass.

This was swiftly followed by the news that Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, an Unreal Engine 5 remake of the 2008 Xbox 360 classic, is available to buy and play right now across all platforms (except Nintendo Switch) as well as Xbox Game Pass.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is being developed by Team Ninja and, surprisingly (or perhaps not given the developer's pedigree), PlatinumGames. It'll be Platinum's first major project since 2022's Bayonetta 3.

Ninja Gaiden 4 looks to offer two playable protagonists. Legendary ninja Ryu Hayabusa is returning, alongside a brand new character named Yakumo. Yakumo is a much younger ninja who initially seems to be at odds with Hayabusa, and we see the pair clash in the announcement trailer.

The game seems to be retaining what made the Team Ninja series so iconic in the first place, with lightning-fast combat, jaw-dropping visuals and no shortage of satisfyingly chunky blood and gore.

There's not much word on Ninja Gaiden 4's overall difficulty just yet, but we should probably expect a fairly challenging game. The Ninja Gaiden series has a reputation of being punishingly hard from its early NES days all the way to the more contemporary entries.

Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.

The reveal also confirmed that familiar characters from series' past will also be making an appearance in Ninja Gaiden 4, which means we can probably expect Momiji and Dead or Alive's Ayane to make a return, too.