Tomonobu Itagaki's departure from Tecmo has caused quite a big stir in the gaming community. Why wouldn't it considering that this is the same dude who created hit games such as Ninja Gaiden 2 and Dead or Alive 5. Well, rumor has it that he's not the only one leaving the company.

There have been rumors circulating that  as many as three dozen more members of Team Ninja will be following Itagaki's example and will be filing a class-action lawsuit against Tecmo regarding unpaid bonuses for the games they've created.

However, Tecmo has released a statement which denies these allegations and insists that Team Ninja is intact (sans Itagaki) and is working on new projects as we report this:

Tecmo would like to assure its loyal fans that Team Ninja, known for its top-selling and critically acclaimed Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive franchises, is intact and, as a matter of fact, has several new projects already underway.

At this point, we're not really sure who to believe so we'll just have to wait and see how this whole issue plays out. Still, we can't help but wonder if key members of Team Ninja have left and are preparing to file a lawsuit against their former employer. In addition, this would also pose the question "who's left at Team Ninja?"