Dead or Alive 6 producer and director, Yohei Shimbori, took to Twitter on his personal account to proclaim that the news going around that the reduction of clothing damage to the characters in the game was due to appealing to female gamers was actually a “mistranslation”.

This comes after an interview was published on January 11th, 2019 over on Taiwanese gaming site, GNN. Initially it was reported that the clothing damage was reduced to appeal to the female gaming audience. However on January 12th, 2019 Shimbori tweeted out the following reaction to the news going around, claiming that there was a “misunderstanding” or a “mistranslation”.

The tweet states…

“I should point out, I did not say what was written in the news article… However, I don’t know if it’s a mistranslation or misunderstanding. [His next phrase: “もう 言った (or いった) こと に なる の だろ う な”appears to indicate him questioning what he’s already said] “Being misrepresented is dreadful. I don’t know a foreign language so I can’t immediately fix it on the spot… hmm. “This is especially sensitive… honestly troubled.”

Obviously this spawned more questions than answers, and we decided to reach out to Shimbori to find out what part of his statements were misrepresented or mistranslated.

Specifically, he was asked whether or not the reduction in the clothing damage mechanics in Dead or Alive 6 was due to trying to appeal to female gamers, and Shimbori stated via Twitter that this was not true.

Shimbori briefly stated…

“Not at all, that is a misunderstanding. I’m sorry and regret to say that I can’t speak in detail about it, but at this point, all I can really say on the matter is that is not the case.”

He was also asked where the mistranslation took place, and whether or not it started with the GNN interview. He responded by stating that the GNN interview was not a mistranslation, and that translations of translations were the problem, and that when people mistranslate interviews it means the person doing the talking will likely speak less or talk about less interesting topics because they they will be afraid of it being mistranslated.

Shimbori stated…

“First of all, the GNN translation was not mistranslated. “[Also] I’m not very good at speaking proficiently. That being said, translating very minute or finer details can sometimes go missing, and there’s a strong possibility that a misunderstanding may arise.”

There’s no doubt about it that the clothing damage has indeed been reduced in Dead or Alive 6.

If you compare the compilation video of the break blows from Dead or Alive 6 to the damage compilation videos of Dead or Alive 5: Last Round, there’s a pretty huge and visually significant difference in how the characters lose their clothes between the two games.

Project Jill has a compilation from Dead or Alive 6 you can check out below.

Most of the damage in Dead or Alive 6 is pretty tame, with characters like Diego only losing his shirt, or Bayman only losing his glasses. Kasumi only has her midriff exposed with very minor damage done to her armor.

A second video compilation from user Toru Tatsu covers the game’s recent beta test on the PS4, and it also further corroborates the video above, revealing that the clothing damage in Dead or Alive 6 has been drastically reduced.

Now compare that to the Dead or Alive 5: Last Round compilation from HotGaming.

There’s a second video from Todo 1996 that also features a compilation of different outfits showing the costumes being destroyed over time throughout the fight. You can check that video out below as well.

As you can see, there is way more destruction taking place with the characters’ clothes.

So it’s not a matter of whether or not it’s been reduced, it’s a matter of why it’s been reduced.

Shimbori clearly states that it wasn’t due to female gamers.

Later I was able to ask about why there was a change — or rather, a reduction in the clothing damage compared to Dead or Alive 5: Last Round — and if it was specifically due to “global standards”?

Shimbori replied with the following.

The tweet states…

“That’s right. “I already mentioned in various interviews that it’s about fierce fighting entertainment, and the destruction mechanism was necessary to consider. As I’ve said so far, the customers’ and the world’s collective opinion are being used to properly improve upon the game’s expression. “Undertaking a matter and trying to do a good thing is not always the same as what you’re restricted or limited to doing.”

There is some speculation that this change could be due to the Sony censorship policies, where a lot of games have been affected by it that included fan-service such as upskirt shots, cleavage, and interactive modes where you could fondle the 3D characters. In fact, all future Senran Kagura games can no longer feature the intimacy mode on PlayStation consoles. Thankfully, the Intimacy Mode is still allowed on PC releases and Nintendo Switch releases.

This isn’t indicative that the clothing destruction feature was removed due to the PS4 censorship policies, but it is something to keep in mind, especially since Dead or Alive 6 has been in the news frequently for toning down its sex appeal, shrinking the female fighters’ boobs so they appear more human, and removing the OMG physics mode.

In fact, Shimbori did not deny or denounce the possibility of Sony’s censorship policies being in play, but instead told gamers not to worry and that they would make announcements regarding the game and the specs soon.

Also, Shimbori did mention in the GNN interview that there will be different specs and features for the different platforms, so maybe PC and Xbox One gamers can expect more clothing destruction compared to the PS4?

We still don’t know have any answers and Shimbori isn’t publicly talking about them right now, but maybe we’ll find out closer toward the game’s launch.

[Update 1/14/2019:] Twitter user Sanji Vinsmoke asked Kanye if she talked to Shimbori about whether the game would be censored on the PS4, and she replied that the game will be the same across all the platforms.

He replied that every version will be the same on PS4, PC, Xbox One. — Kayane (@Kayane) January 14, 2019

(Thanks for the news tip zac za)