Team Shinobi

Team Shinobi was a Japanese video game developer operating primarily as an internal division or studio within Sega from 1990 until 2003.History and biggest titles:The studio is best known for developing classic arcade and console titles for Sega, most notably the Golden Axe series. Throughout the 1990s, the team contributed to Sega's success in the beat-'em-up and action genres during the 16-bit era and beyond, before eventually dissolving or being reintegrated into Sega's broader corporate structure by 2003.In the late 1980s, Sega’s primary arcade development team was known internally as Sega R&D #1. Led by legendary designers like Makoto Uchida and Noriyoshi Ohba, this division pumped out definitive arcade hits including Shinobi, Altered Beast, and Golden Axe. The core developers working specifically on the ninja franchise began proudly calling themselves "Team Shinobi".As the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive exploded in popularity, Sega realized they needed dedicated teams focused strictly on home consoles rather than arcades. Around 1990, Sega restructured.Part of the arcade R&D #1 group stayed on the arcade side (becoming AM1).Another chunk of Team Shinobi's talent was shifted over to the consumer (home console) division, creating Sega Consumer R&D #2 (CS2) and CS3.Noriyoshi Ohba was placed in charge of CS3. While they were technically a new department, they carried the Team Shinobi culture with them, which is exactly why the "Produced by Team Shinobi" badge proudly flashed before Streets of Rage in 1991.By the mid-to-late 90s, Sega wanted to streamline its branding. They decided to label all their major internal research and development teams under the "AM" (Amusement Machine) banner, regardless of whether they made arcade or console games.Sega took the CS2 and CS3 console teams—which housed the remnants of the Phantasy Star, Streets of Rage, and Shinobi developers—and formally consolidated them into Sega AM R&D Dept. #7 (AM7), with Ohba remaining at the helm. During this era, legendary creator Rieko Kodama joined forces with them.