Backlash fears over Dead or Alive's busty females keep game Japan-only

The global gaming market is still a fractured one, with different cultural sensibilities meaning titles that work well in one territory may not fly in another -- first person shooters traditionally never did well in Japan, while visual novels were anathema to most western gamers, for instance.

Proving that it's useful to keep abreast of differences in regional tastes, Koei Tecmo has confirmed it won't be bringing Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 to EU countries or America -- because it fears a backlash over how the game represents women. For those unfamiliar with the series, it "represents" them as scantily clad beach babes with barely contained breasts.

In a post on the Dead or Alive Facebook page responding to a fan question on DOAX3's chance of western release, a Koei Tecmo representative wrote "We do not bring DOAX3 to the west and won't have any plan change in the future. Thank you for asking."

In a reply, Koei Tecmo added "Do you know many issues happening in video game industry with regard to how to treat female in video game industry? We do not want to talk those things here. But certainly we have gone through in last year or two to come to our decision. Thank you."

Although the posts are in broken English, it's clear that the recent surge in demand for better representation of women -- not to mention characters of colour and from the LGBT community -- in all forms of media in the west has lead developer Team Ninja and publisher Koei Tecmo to keep the game a Japanese exclusive.

Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 is set for release in Japan in February 2016 on PS4 and PS Vita, the third main instalment in the Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball series. A spinoff from the core Dead or Alive fighting games, these more leisurely offshoots allow players to control one of the female characters from the main titles and engage in lighthearted holiday activities on sun-kissed islands, most involving as little clothing as possible.

Previous games in the Xtreme series have included mini-games such as "Butt Battle", where the sexy ladies try to push each other off a float using only their posteriors; "Tug of War", where they try to pull each other into the water; and "Pool Hopping", where they jump from float to float, trying not to fall in. Players can also buy new swimsuits for the girls, and give them accessories such as sunscreen. The games are pitched somewhere between mini-game collections and bishoujo (pretty girl) sims. You can decide for yourself if we're losing out.