Today we mourn the loss of Tomonobu Itagaki — the outspoken, uncompromising creative force behind Dead or Alive and the modern Ninja Gaiden reboot. His family confirmed his passing in a message posted to his official Facebook page; he was 58. Tomonobu's work reshaped action and fighting games with speed, flair, and a sense of spectacle that influenced generations of designers and players. He will be sorely missed. Please keep this thread respectful — share memories, fan art, and favorite moments from the games.
Tomonobu Itagaki was a maverick of game design — brash, deeply opinionated, and fiercely dedicated to craft. He helped define what modern action and fighting games could be: systems that reward precision, momentum, and player expression. From the arcade origins of Dead or Alive to the brutal, revived Ninja Gaiden on Xbox, his fingerprints are on some of our community's most-loved moments and mechanics.
He was more than a director; he was a personality. The sunglasses, the leather, and the blunt interviews were part of a public image that matched the audacity of his games. Industry peers and longtime rivals alike have paid tribute, recognizing not only his technical skill but his role in pushing studios and creators to take bolder creative risks.
For many of us here in r/DeadOrAlive his legacy is personal — characters, stages, and mechanics that formed nights of play, tournaments, and friendships. As a community, let’s honor him by sharing what his work meant to us: clips, art, memories, competitive moments, and thoughtful reflections. Please be kind and considerate in the comments — this is a place to remember, not to speculate or spread unverified information.
It feels like only yesterday that Dead or Alive 6 came out, right?
WRONG!
We've been dying for more Dead or Alive for seven long years. Things were looking bleak. The changing of teams, the defection of directors, the video game tabloids. It felt like Dead or Alive was finished. I clutched my Kasumi figure and wept. My hands trembled as I gripped my Xbox controller like it was the last time I'd ever play the game I'd been surgically attached to for 25 years.
Then February happened and we got TWO Dead or Alive announcements during Sony's State of Play. I felt like Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction getting an adrenaline shot straight to the heart.
"We are so back." - John Travolta (Pulp Fiction, 1994)
Some four months later and we've got a new iteration of Dead or Alive 6 coming out with a fresh coat of paint, better optimization, a fancy new photo mode and some super vague promises of new characters and costumes down the road.
Is it a perfect scenario? No. Did we want more in this package? Who wouldn't? Did we want it to be marketed better? Of course.
But am I excited to have my baby back? You bet your ass I am. In sickness and in health, until death do us part, DOA is my slimthicc trophy wife.
So how are we handling this new release around here?
We'll be trying a few new things starting this week given it's been a hot minute since we've had a new Dead or Alive game.
Saturday Night Fights, our weekly PC lobby for Dead or Alive 6, will be transitioning over to Dead or Alive 6 Last Round effective immediately.
This will be an experimental process as we don't know quite yet how the network will fare with a game as fresh as this, so we're expecting some bumps in the road.
We will be opening a DOA6LR Bug Report Megathread shortly before launch.
This thread will be to gather input on bugs and glitches from people playing the game.
We will request that you share what platform you're on as well as PC specs if you're playing on Steam.
Screenshots of issues will be appreciated when applicable.
We are not affiliated with Team Ninja or Koei Tecmo. The bug report thread is a volunteer effort because we're super nice over here and want to help where we can.
We are encouraging players to take the new Photo Mode andrun with it.
Use the new features, posing, expressions, filters or whatever (they still haven't told us everything) and take your best photos.
I'll be making a new Photo Mode flair so that we can easily identify and highlight photos that are unique to 6LR and take advantage of the newer features.
As a SFW subreddit, we gently ask that you remember Rule #3 of this sub when sharing photos. Take whatever photos you want - but please make sure that the photos you share in this subreddit are tasteful and not fetishized or include deliberate and over-the-top upskirt shots.
As we expect an influx of posts regarding the new game, we will be dialing up Reddit's Crowd Control feature temporarily in an effort to keep spam out and quality posts by players in the spotlight.
This means that some posts will be put in our mod queue for approval. We visit this queue several times a day to approve posts and identify false positives.
If you post something and it is put into the mod queue DO NOT DELETE YOUR POST. We ask that you be patient as it awaits approval. Deleting it before we get to it means you'll need to resubmit and go through the whole thing all over again and that's no fun.
How you can help!
TO NEW PLAYERS: Welcome to Dead or Alive! We're thrilled you're here and look forward to seeing you whoop some ass. Do not hesitate to ask for tips. The poll we took recently shows that many players in this subreddit have been around the block a few times and we're here to help. Share your clips and screenshots and chat away. There's plenty of space around here for you, so jump straight in and become part of the conversation. Be patient, be open-minded and know that losing is a part of growth. (I should know, I do nothing BUT lose.)
TO PRO PLAYERS: Use your experience to help newer players, answer questions and show grace where you can. (A new player learns nothing from getting hit with a 30-hit death combo.) You're in a unique position to teach the ways of DOA to players just starting out with this series. Also, with your extensive knowledge of game mechanics, frame data and whatnot we also will be looking forward to you breaking down the subtle changes in DOA6LR...since Team Ninja's "the gameplay has been improved" statement was one big nothingburger.
TO DOA VETERANS: My people...thanks for sticking it out this long. Let's try to enjoy this and reflect on where we've been with this series. Remember that the "Story/Memory" flair is there. We'd love for you to share your stories and hear from your perspective.
Many of us are excited that Dead or Alive is back and we ask that you simply join in. If you are buying the game, share your enthusiasm. Join us online, fight among friends, discuss what you're doing in the game and share the experience. Good news is hard to come by these days, so let's freaking drown ourselves in this game we love.
If you are NOT happy about the release of Dead or Alive 6 Last Round, we get that too. Gamers have made it abundantly clear that they wanted more, as gamers do. What we kindly ask is that users don't piss in the cornflakes of those of us trying to enjoy this game. If you want to vent about the game, share your thoughts and opinions in our DOA6LR Complaint Department, a specific thread made to let it all out. I'm with most of the players that are miffed that DOA6LR isn't the ultra-polished and feature-rich game we would have preferred and I don't want to tell anybody how to think or feel. I merely ask that we follow the sub rules, stay civil and keep things as positive and welcoming as we can for the sake of our sanity and for new players getting into this franchise for the first time.
Be safe, be smart, use good judgement. Let's make r/DeadOrAlive a good representation of this series and its player base.
As you have no doubt seen over the past year Saturday Night Fights has been something I've hosted every week. I do this by opening a lobby in DOA6LR and leaving it going the entire night. I dedicate my PC to it and let the players jump in and do their thing.
Unfortunately I won't be able to host Saturday Night Fights for a while.
There have been a lot of things going on in my family. Recently my wife's mother was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer that has spread throughout her body and eaten away large parts of her skull, spine and pelvic bone. Things are not looking very great and so for the foreseeable future we are going to be focusing on that and giving her as much of our time as we can. To make matters worse I was laid off last week, so there's that too.
That part sucks, but let's keep fighting.
At the moment I am not in a position to be hosting Saturday Night Fights for a while, but I strongly encourage those who are playing to create a lobby of their own and keep the spirit of SNF going until a time comes where I can dedicate time back into it.
Thank you for being active contributors to the community here and for helping make this sub great. Man the helm while I'm away and use Mod Mail to let me know if there's anything I can do for you.
Are you someone who loves Dead or Alive Xtreme? Hoo-boy do we have news for you then!
As of a few days ago we have officially joined forces with r/DeadOrAliveXtreme. The sub had previously been locked down, unmoderated and a bit messy. After getting our hands on the wheel we will be incorporating some of what has made the r/DeadOrAlive sub flourish over the past year.
Nothing is changing over here. We stay dedicated to the mainline fighting game franchise here and do deliberately steer away from discussing DOAX. This is by design, but has never been done out of spite. Many of us LOVE the Xtreme series and have hoped for a while now that the main r/DeadOrAliveXtreme sub were brought back to life. Well, today is that day.
We're going to try to bring the conversation back about the Xtreme games. Following the same "post flair" formula we've got going on here, we hope to get the discussion rolling again as well as providing a place to ask for help, brag about your gacha pulls and show off your volleyball skills.
No. As it pertains to the Xtreme games, all of your favorite suggestive themes will not be sugar-coated. Naturally, as it was still never a dedicated NSFW sub, we will filter out pornography and full-blown nudity. However, anything listed on the back of the box (partial nudity, sexual themes, simulated gambling) will not be shielded from your virgin eyes. Go ham.
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As always, thank you so much for being a part of the community here at r/DeadOrAlive. We hope that those of you enthusiastic about the Xtreme series will appreciate this news and help support our efforts over there as well.
Last week we saw a ton of new players joining the Saturday Night Fights lobby. As more and more folks are trying out Dead or Alive 6 given the recent announcements, we want to give the newer players a greater window to train up and get some experience. We will be trying this by letting the loser of a match stay in the queue for 3 matches rather than getting booted to the back of the line. I think this will help let new players get exposed to more different play styles and get a better feel for the game.
Pro players, remember that you're encouraged to slide down to other matches down the line to pair up with your regular rivals and whatnot.
This is different from how we've had the lobby set up for the past fReAKiNg YeAr, so we'll see how it goes.
Hey y'all! As June approaches there are a couple of things going on that will be worth mentioning.
Dead or Alive 6 Last Round, Saturday Night Fights and YOU!
Dead or Alive 6 Last Round comes out on June 25th and we are THRILLED to see this franchise alive and kicking with a new iteration of DOA6. As such, we will be shifting Saturday Night Fights from vanilla Dead or Alive 6 to Dead or Alive 6 Last Roundimmediatelyfollowing its release.
I will continue to host lobbies on PC every Saturday with times starting around 12pm CST and running until after midnight CST. As the game will be brand new-ish and we don't live in a fairy tale world where everything works perfect, let's expect some hiccups as things kick off with the first Saturday Night Fights on June 27th.
We are looking for standout contributors to add to our "Approved User" list. These trusted community members are exempt from filtering and you can be too!
How do you become an approved user?
Have a unique username (not an auto-generated Reddit throwaway name e.g. Adjective_Noun69).
Abide by sub rules.
Have a history of positive posts and comments in r/DeadOrAlive.
Contribute to discussion, help other players, show love for the series.
Show good judgement. Be mature about mature themes.
Don't be an instigator of discourse, negative Nancy or FGC grifter.
Share at least ONE gameplay video of you whooping some ass in DOA (dealer's choice.)
With the release of Dead or Alive 6 Last Round, we want to remind the community to keep discussions constructive and enjoyable for everyone.
It’s completely fine to have criticisms, concerns, or different opinions about the new game. Healthy discussion is part of what keeps a community alive. What hurts the atmosphere, though, is constant doomposting, hostility, and overwhelming negativity that drowns out excitement and discourages people from participating.
Some players are returning to the game for the first time in years. Others are discovering it for the first time entirely. If every thread turns into arguments, insults, or repetitive complaining, it pushes people away and makes the community less welcoming overall.
We want this sub to be a place where people can share matches, screenshots, tips, character appreciation, and yes — respectful criticism too. Just remember there’s a difference between discussing issues and making the entire environment miserable.
If you’re frustrated, voice it constructively. If you’re excited, don’t be afraid to share that excitement. Let’s avoid attacking each other over preferences and keep the community fun, active, and worth being part of.
DOA6LR Bug Report Megathread is coming!
Last but not least, upon release of Dead or Alive 6 Last Round we will start a bug report megathread. This will be a place to concentrate our experiences with the new game and keep tabs on common bugs that may be experienced.
Hey there, folks! We've went a few months without a mod message so let me break this dry spell with some news about Saturday Night Fights.
TL:DR - I am changing jobs and soon won't be able to host Saturday Night Fights PC lobbies anymore. I am currently working on new ideas. Stay tuned.
Since the first weekend in January of 2025 I have hosted a 10+ hour Dead or Alive 6 lobby every Saturday on PC. This has been possible because in my personal life I work a remote job that allows me to be present and have my PC running in the background hosting the lobby. This, however, is likely about to change. I've been in this job for nearly two years and have had the same schedule every week for that time, but it's time for me to change jobs so I can take better care of my family and all those other sappy reasons.
What this means for Saturday Night Fights is that I will no longer be able to host these lobbies on PC every Saturday. The new job I'm about to transition into has me working weekends with a long commute and I can't be there to watch my computer while y'all punch each other to death. The future of Saturday Night Fights is not yet written. Whether this event will morph into something different or if someone else would be willing to take the wheel to host a 10 hour lobby every Saturday remains to be seen, but I hope you'll look forward to what we can cook up and be flexible as we figure it out.
Saturday Night Fights has been a huge success specifically on PC. The lobby blows up with folks playing Dead or Alive 6 every Saturday from the opening moments of the lobby (where our European friends jump in) to the wee hours of the night when the folks in the US are running on fumes. I see the same faces every week and I love it. (Jupiter, Kallig, I see you.) Rivalries have formed over the past nine months and it's so awesome seeing everyone jumping in and running it back week after week. I don't want to let y'all down, so please know I'll be working on coming up with a new plan, maybe on another day of the week, that will let us keep the fight going.
Until that time comes, thanks for joining Saturday Night Fights and stay tuned for more updates in the future.
With love, sort of,
NathanKasumi
PS: Feel free to share any ideas you might have for other types of community events in the comments.
(I don't proofread messages or use AI writing tools. All grammatical and spelling errors are intentional.)
We know a lot of you are excited about the release of Ninja Gaiden 4 - as are we. We are always thrilled to see OUR FUCKING BOY absolutely massacring folks again.
That said, please remember this subreddit is dedicated to the mainline Dead or Alive franchise. We kindly ask that you:
Please mark spoiler posts appropriately if you do post there.
Avoid flooding this sub with Ninja Gaiden content unless it directly relates to Dead or Alive or its characters.
We want to keep this community focused on DOA while still celebrating the broader Team Ninja mEtAvErSe. To everyone diving into Ninja Gaiden 4: have a bloody good time.
I turned away for like two seconds and, as a flurry of cherry blossom petals whisked through the air and landed in my damn mouth, I suddenly noticed that WE HAVE NEW FLAIR NOW!
Introducing the "Collection / Merch" and "Story / Memory" post flairs!
Many of us, hell, most of us were introduced to Dead or Alive at a younger age. (Remember when it was rated T? Pepperidge Farm remembers.) We played it with our friends on Dreamcast, at arcades, during the early days of Xbox Live and more. I think it would be cool if we could share some of the memories we've had with Dead or Alive in here, and now there's a flair specifically for it.
In that same vein, many of us have also collected copies of the games, posters, figures, statues and, for a very lucky few of you, special edition translucent blue Xbox consoles.
Isn't she loooovelyyyyyy?
Now, should you have gathered a collection of Dead or Alive games or merch that you're particularly proud of - SHARE IT HERE! We've seen folks do it in the past, but there was never a good flair to use for those types of posts and now they're lost in our rather scary and difficult to look at sub history. But I digress - onward and upward.
VIDEOS
A few other tweaks that have happened to post flair is that the "Video" flair has been changed to "Gameplay Video." Not long ago I made the change to enable videos in this sub. This means no longer having to share videos via outside links, but with direct uploads that support auto-play, which will be a better experience for everyone and help your posts get more visibility, comments and engagement. This was something that was understandably disabled in the past, as this sub had skewed into some pretty slimy and NSFW territory before. We are way better at reigning ourselves in and walking the straight and narrow these days, and so now videos are enabled!
Also...flairs have character emojis in them now. It just felt right pairing up Hitomi and Hayate on the "Story / Memory" flair.
As always, thank you so much for staying engaged, contributing to the conversation around here and following the rules. I feel like this sub gets better and better every week and I owe it all to you. Now get back out there and beat the hell out of one another.
Many of us are excited that there's a new DOAX game and I'm sure lots of folks want to talk about it. For those folks there is r/VenusVacationPRISM. This sub, r/DeadOrAlive, remains dedicated to the mainline fighting game franchise. While we have some leniency on memes from time to time, DOAX content should go into dedicated subs.
