Published , by Charles Singletary Jr
Published , by Charles Singletary Jr
Event producers are incredibly talented at organizing quality productions with an intimidating amount of moving parts, but they can't always plan for everything. EVO Japan took place in Las Vegas, Nevada this past weekend and the plug had to be pulled on the Dead or Alive 6 stream for sexual content.
Now, Dead or Alive 6 already features a gratuitous amount of fan service and that element can't really be avoided when including it as part of a competition. Sexual content beyond that, though, is a step too far. During EVO Japan 2019, Eurogamer reported that game director Yohei Shimbori paused gameplay during a stage show when a male and female character were in a precarious, sexual position. He then proceeded to move the camera around to highlight the position and get a better look at it. For an already sexual game, taking the snapshot our of the context of the fight pushed the envelope a great deal.
A couple of Japanese gravure idols, Yuka Kuramochi and Saki Yoshida, spanked each other, drew attention to their breasts, and bounced around during the stage show at EVO Japan 2019. The stream was pulled and show organizer Joey "Mr. Wizard" Cuellar tweeted "We ended the stream temporarily to protect the integrity of the brand. We sincerely apologize to our fans", but the tweet was eventually deleted. EVO business development Mark "MarkMan" Julio took a moment to apologize for the sexual content when the English stream returned and he added that what was shown "does not reflect the content or intention of EVO."
The report states that EVO Japan's organizers seemed surprised by Team Ninja's Dead or Alive 6 stage showcase and, considering how the two moments feel entirely ad-libbed, that makes sense. You can't plan for everything and it is certainly difficult to be prepared for the random inclinations of entertainers in a live setting. Nevertheless, if the showcase hasn't damaged relationships to the point that a Dead or Alive 6 showcase is removed, it is entirely likely that a deeper conversation will be had about what is and isn't allowed on stage next time around. Stay tuned to Shacknews for additional gaming and tech updates.