9. No Western Release For Dead Or Alive Xtreme 3
The first Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball was pretty controversial when it was released in 2003. This spinoff to the popular Dead or Alive fighting games took the female characters from the franchise and had them play volleyball in skimpy and revealing swimsuits. The game was accused of being misogynistic and sexist, but was able to withstand these criticisms and go on to do decent business, especially in Japan. So far one sequel has been released, with a third currently in development. However, unlike the previous two, Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 is not set to be released outside Japan, a first for the series. When questioned why, publisher Koei Techmo responded on Facebook saying, 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. This statement has been interpreted as Koei Techmo admitting that the current controversy over female representations in video games has pressured them not to release DOAX3 outside Asia. Some see this as a form of censorship and believe that the game would have gotten a western release had it not been for the increasing influence of feminism in the industry. There are even multiple petitions to get Koei Techmo to change their minds, some of which have thousands of signatures. In reality, while social pressure may have indeed played a part in their decision, Koei Techmo likely made the decision for mostly financial reasons, as there really isnt a huge market for DOAX3 in the west. Still, that hasnt stopped the decision from being a controversial issue for certain people.