“I saw the story that Koei wasn’t going to bring the game to the west and thought it an absolute crime.”
In August of this year, Team Ninja’s Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 was announced for PlayStation 4 and Vita, although it was revealed at that time that it would be made “exclusively for Japan and Asian market.”
Producer Yosuke Hayashi stated that Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 would be considered for release in North America if there was a large enough demand for it. However, it was recently revealed that the game would not be brought to Western audiences. According to a post on the game’s official Facebook page, the decision not to publish the game in the West was made in order to avoid the ongoing debate surrounding depictions of women in video games.
“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,” the post reads. “But certainly we have gone through in last year or two to come to our decision. Thank you.”
Publisher Koei Tecmo Europe responded to several fan questions on Twitter, writing “Kudos to the TN’s CM for being honest. But if you really want it, you can import EN ver,” further clarifying in a second tweet that they don’t approve of placing the blame for the decision on anyone.
On November 25, the developer of PC dating sim/puzzle game HuniePop jumped into the discussion, offering $1 million to Koei Tecmo in exchange for the rights to publish DOAX3 in the United States.
Probably nothing to them but I'd give Koei Tecmo $1M for the rights to publish DOAX in the US. Let me take the heat.— HuniePot (@HuniePotDev) November 25, 2015
100% serious. It's an extra million they otherwise wouldn't have. Seems like a no brainer to me. Let them know.— HuniePot (@HuniePotDev) November 25, 2015
.@KoeiTecmoUS I'll give you $1M for the rights to publish DOAX in the states. Serious offer, for whatever it's worth.— HuniePot (@HuniePotDev) November 25, 2015
“Basically I saw the story that Koei wasn’t going to bring the game to the west and thought it an absolute crime,” Ryan Koons, owner of HuniePot Inc., told The Escapist. “Like many others I love the DOAX series and want to see it come stateside.”
“I’m still uncertain as to just how pathetic an offer of $1M really is,” Koons continued. “On one hand these guys surely make millions and millions of dollars with each release and on the other if you look at, say, the Steam sales for DOA5, maybe $1M isn’t too shabby.”
Koons stressed that this offer should not be viewed as a political statement or any sort of grandstand: It is, in fact, a legitimate offer.
“No statement is worth a million dollars to me. People pretty much know where I stand on these issues already. It’s a legitimate offer. I don’t expect Koei to even acknowledge the offer though I’m prepared to get to work if they did.”
“But I’ll add this,” Koons continuted. “If my little wave adds to the storm that eventually gets Koei to just publish the thing themselves; mission accomplished.”
We have reached out to Koei Tecmo for comment, and will update this story with any new developments.
Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 is scheduled to release on February 25th, 2016. Import retailer Play-Asia will be offering an English version of the game through its website.
