A few months ago, Koei Tecmo, a Japanese game developer, confirmed the development of Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 iterations for the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita. More recently, however, the developer suggested that it may not release the game versions for both platforms in the West.
Koei Tecmo has not released many details since it revealed thatDead or Alive Xtreme 3: Fortune for PS4 and Dead or Alive Xtreme 3: Venus for PS Vita are under development and that both game iterations will be released next year, which was confirmed along with the release of a gameplay trailer. That is until Jeremiah Hereth, a Dead or Alive 3 Extreme enthusiast, inquired on whether the company will be bringing the game to the United States and Europe.
“Any words of bringing the upcoming Xtreme 3 game to US and EU regions or no?” Hereth asks on the game’s Facebook page.
The company’s community manager (CM) responded, “We do not bring DOAX3 to the West and won’t have any plan change in the future. Thank you for asking.”
When the rest of the game community asked why the company decided not to publish it to the Western markets, the CM responded with lines that triggered a discussion of sorts.
“Do you know many issues happening in [the] video game industry with regard to how to treat female[s] in video game[s]?” asks the CM.
“We do not want to talk [about] those things here. But certainly we have gone through [that] in [the] last year or two to come to our decision,” the CM adds.
So who exactly is going to complain when Koei Tecmo brings the game to the West?
While the company has not specified anyone in particular, the consensus is that “social justice warriors” or SJWs will do so. According to a Reaxxion report, SJWs campaigned to get Grand Theft Auto 5 banned from Target and K-Mart stores in Australia. A campaign was also started to get Hatred off Steam. Both games were cited for violent content.
Hence, it’s easy to see how Dead or Alive Xtreme 3, a game that developed a new physics system just to have bikini-clad female characters’ breasts move asynchronously, can be called out for its visual content. Releasing the title to an audience debating over sexism in games will probably add fuel to the flames, something Koei Tecmo would rather not be part of based on its refusal to ship the game.
Some publishers have openly expressed their intent to publish the game in the West to the take the heat off Koei Tecmo.
Others have taken the opportunity to promote their sale of the game’s English Asia version.
[“source-techtimes”]
