It has been quite a week for Itagaki and Tecmo. First he quit the company over unpaid bonuses, Microsoft thanked him for his hard work, then Tecmo claimed that Itagaki's claims over unpaid bonuses were false.

It looks like Tecmo will need to get on their hands and knees and beg for Itagaki to return. Not only was he in charge of two of their four biggest franchises, but their stock prices have dropped dramatically since Itagaki's departure. Ouch.

On June 3rd 2008 2:30PM Japan Standard Time, Tomonobu Itagaki announced that he was leaving Tecmo and also suing the company for unpaid bonuses. He cited an unfulfilled Dead or Alive 4 completion bonus, stating, "President Yoshimi Yasuda chose not only to violate this agreement, but also turned defiant, telling me 'if you are dissatisfied with the decision not to pay the bonuses, either quit the company or sue it.'"

How did that effect the company stock price? The following day, the price of Tecmo stock suddenly dropped 10.16 percent in Japan. Think of it as a shuriken to the market cap.

Miss Razz via kotaku.com »