Tecmo says no thanks to Square Enix
Would rather merge with Koei, actually.
Ninja Gaiden developer Tecmo has rejected the takeover bid made by Square Enix, deciding instead to concentrate efforts on a possible merger with Koei.
"Through a merger, we expect we can grow further by respecting both companies' identities and having an environment in which employees can fully exhibit their skills," said Tecmo and Koei in a statement, as reported by Reuters.
Square Enix planned to buy 50 per cent of Tecmo shares for around USD 100 million, and said this "friendly" bid was unlikely to be followed-up by a hostile approach.
Tecmo, also responsible for the Dead or Alive fighting series, hit stormy waters recently after the departure of head designer Tomonobu Itagaki and president Yoshimi Yasuda.
Itagaki, tracked down in a pub in Japan, managed to hit headlines again by snapping back at Devil May Cry and Bayonetta designer Hideki Kamiya, who trashed Ninja Gaiden as uninteresting and nowhere near the standard of the original DMC.