On June 3, 2008, Tomonobu Itagaki announced that he was leaving Tecmo and Team Ninja, citing difficulties with Tecmo. In the same statement announcing his resignation, Itagaki also announced that he was filing a lawsuit against his former employer over unpaid bonuses for his work on Dead or Alive 4. When Itagaki left Tecmo, most of his colleagues and fellow Team Ninja members left with him to form Valhalla Game Studios. The role of Team Ninja leader was taken over by current head Yosuke Hayashi.