New Ninja Gaiden game teased as the surprise reveal for Xbox Developer Direct 2025

A new Ninja Gaiden game could be unveiled at the Xbox Developer Direct 2025 showcase. Xbox Insider Alan Feely (@IdleSlothVGT) posted a sketch video reflecting protagonists from games that are suggested to be making an appearance at the upcoming Xbox livestream. The last of these showcases Ryu Hayabusa from Koei Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden franchise.

This is supposedly the surprise game that Xbox has touched upon in their marketing for the Xbox Developer Direct 2025. Here are the details.

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Ninja Gaiden rumored to be shown at Xbox Developer Direct 2025

In the video, we see protagonists/representations of various upcoming games, all of which have been confirmed to make an appearance at the showcase

• Doomslayer from DOOM: The Dark Ages
• Hazel from South of Midnight
• The cast from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

The last one features the Ninja Gaiden protagonist, which also lines up past rumors from other leakers such as eXtas1s. They recently suggested that they were "95% sure which [surprise] game" will be appearing at Direct. They mentioned the same in a YouTube video. In another post, they suggested that their sources claimed it would be a title from a "legendary Japanese IP that has decades of history."

With two different sources claiming the same thing, it could mean something. If true, this is most definitely a new entry and not a remake or remaster. As per the official Xbox announcement, fans will "visit a surprise location to see another studio’s brand new game," which hints towards the unannounced reveal being a new entry — in this case, a new installment in the beloved Ninja Gaiden series.

Koei Tecmo's action-adventure franchise has had a long history in the gaming scene from the NES days. The latest mainline entry is Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge from 2012 for the PS3/360/PC/Wii U platforms. A new installment would mark over a decade since the series returned to mainstream gaming platforms.

The Xbox Developer Direct 2025 will air on January 23, 2025. Check out what to expect, timings, and more.