Rumor: Three dozen Team Ninja devs leaving with Itagaki, suing Tecmo

Losing one of your company's most recognizable figureheads, especially one whose name is so closely associated with most of your best-selling properties, is bound to put a damper on things around the office. However, that last statement assumes that there are still people in the office -- 1UP recently printed a rumor that as many as three dozen Team Ninja higher-ups could be leaving the company following Tomonobu Itagaki's resignation, and will sue Tecmo to gain unpaid bonuses for the games they've completed (much like the class-action suit Itagaki planned to file against the company following his departure).

1UP's source for the rumor was the ever-present "word on the street", though that's likely just rumorese for "we have an inside source". Whoever it may be, we doubt it's the same hopeful Tecmo higher-up who recently assured the public that Team Ninja was going to be just fine, as losing your poster boy, a heartbreaking amount of stock market value, and supposedly, a healthy portion of your workforce in such a short period of time would surely make any game developer feel anything but.