Dead or Alive 6 is toning down its sexualized female roster, with the series’ notorious breast physics and revealing clothing no longer being at the forefront of its presentation. While an element of these series staples will still be present in the upcoming fighting game, its game director Yohei Shimbori stated that he doesn’t want fans to “feel embarrassed” while playing the sequel.
Dead or Alive has always featured scantily-clad female fighters, with this even inspiring a spin-off series, Dead or Alive Xtreme Volleyball. However, for Dead or Alive 6, developer Team Ninja is going in a different direction. Speaking to Eurogamer, Shimbori explained that heroine Kasumi’s costume change into a bodysuit was “very intentional.”
“The reason I chose that costume is because I’m a fan of American comic books,” Shimbori said. “When you look at American comics, they’re abandoning those classical costumes and becoming more functional, becoming more like fighters. They have certain materials they use for the costumes. I thought that was a wonderful idea and I wanted to follow that.”
Shimbori added that there will still be “some movement” in terms of DoA 6‘s breast physics, though the “global trend” of scaling back the sexualization of video game characters means that Team Ninja has decided to follow suit. Judging from the footage we’ve seen so far, Dead or Alive 6 will still be a little more OTT in this regard than other fighting games, but Shimbori and his team want to make it “so everyone can play without being embarrassed.”
In another interview with GameInformer, Shimbori added that he had regrets over Dead or Alive 5‘s presentation. “Dead or Alive 5: Last Round, we put [sexuality] on the front line and used the soft engine [note: an engine used in DOA5 for advanced butt and breast jiggling] for that,” he said. “And actually, we’re reflecting on that… maybe we did a little too much. Of course, we will have some jiggling and some movement, but as a whole we’re going to tone down.
“To sum it up, this is going to be going for a very cool, mature look compared to the other games,” Shimbori concluded. “Also, very natural, not just for the characters, but for the stages, backgrounds, renderings, and everything that we want to make very consistent with a mature, natural look.”
