Devil's Third almost complete, expected in 2014 - Itagaki happy with independence

Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki has said his new project, Devil's Third, will see the light of day this year.

Devil's Third is about 80% complete and will release this year, the former Team Ninja leader revealed in a Japanese interview translated by Siliconera.

“Next year will be the year we’ll be releasing the console game, Devil’s Third. At the moment, it is about 80% complete, and we can about see the end of it," he said in a December chat with 4Gamer.

"However, there’s still a little more polishing that needs to be done. That’s also one of the reasons I’ve decided to work independently. For you fans out there, I’d like to apologize for making you worry. We’ll be going all out next year, so please look forward to it."

Devil's Third was to be published by the now-shuttered THQ, but the publisher dropped the project along with others including Guillermo del Toro's Insane when it began to run into financial troubles in 2012, returning the rights to developer Valhalla Game Studios.

No other publisher surfaced to bring the project to fruition; Itagaki's reference to 'deciding to work independently' suggests this was by choice - although he did once say that the budget for the action title was so high it required a western publisher.

We hadn't heard anything about the project since May 2013, and we're not sure what platforms it'll be launching on, although a digital release is on the cards.