The Itagaki vs Tecmo Soap Opera Continues

More drama has unfolded in the Itagaki/Tecmo suit.

Supposedly, according to various sources (notably Kotaku) Itagaki was fired on June 18th and did not quit as he has alleged. According to Tecmo, he was fired just a few weeks after he announced he would be leaving and suing the company- so either way you look at it, he was out the door.

Itagaki is suing Tecmo over “special incentives” for Dead or Alive 4 that he was never paid. According to Tomonobu Itagaki, he was to receive 6.66% of profits generated from the sale of the game, but Tecmo president Yasuda says that those incentives were never approved. Itagaki was also supposed to receive his summer bonus and yearly incentives, which he left the company without being paid.

Now comes evidence presented by Ninja Gaiden II producer Yoshifuru Okamoto, which is an actual tape recording of Yasuda calling Itagaki a “money grubber” and saying that Itagaki was owed incentive money after all – which was in reality approved by the Tecmo board despite his claims to the contrary.

Okamoto recorded the conversation with Yasuda because he was continually harassed by him, was called  names and and told he had no class. Great way to motivate your employees there Yasuda.

Itagaki has since decided to increase his claim from 148,000,000 yen to 164,000,095 yen thanks to that wonderful bit of evidence produced by Okamoto (providing it holds up in court, which Japanese courts may differ greatly from ours).

You know, Itagaki may rub people the wrong way sometimes, and while I personally detest people who blow their own horn constantly, it is no matter. If he is owed the money, just pay the guy already.

Thanks: CVG [via Kotaku]