If you’re not in Asia, you won’t be getting your digital bikini fix from Koei Tecmo.
The publisher released a statement on its Twitter account explaining its decision not to bring Dead or Alive Extreme 3 to Western markets. The Dead or Alive Extreme series is a spin-off of the fighting game franchise that focuses on beach sports (with lots and lots of tiny bikinis) instead of combat.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1846411,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"C"}']Official statement from Koei Tecmo Games #KTfamily pic.twitter.com/4G2kV4hf7I
— KOEI TECMO AMERICA (@KoeiTecmoUS) December 1, 2015
This follows a controversy that developed after a representative for the company posted on Facebook that the decision was due to the issue of sexual exploitation being such a hot-button topic in the U.S. lately (following a series of attacks on women in the gaming industry), indicating that Koei Tecmo wanted to avoid drama.
The popular digital store Play-Asia (which specializes in selling Japanese games to Western audiences) exasperated the issue when it blamed Tecmo’s decision on “SJW nonense.” SJW means social justice warrior, a term used by groups (like Gamergate) to insult and disparage those who criticize the industry for what they say as a lack of gender, racial, and sexual equality.
While the Twitter post claims that the Facebook comment was made by a single employee and doesn’t reflect the company’s views, Koei Tecmo still states that a Western release for the game is unlikely due to cultural differences.
Previous games from the Extreme subseries have come out in the U.S. While they did draw some criticism, others acknowledged them as harmless titillation. This time, the debate will be all about Tecmo’s decision not to offer the game outside of Asia and if this actually does have anything to do with the recent drama. It’s common for Japanese game companies to pass on bringing a niche title to the West. Sometimes, U.S. fans have to create campaigns just to lobby Eastern companies to localize games, like what the Operation Rainfall group did to Nintendo when it wanted U.S. releases of Japanese role-playing games for the Wii like Xenoblade Chronicles.