Microsoft has apologised after it hosted a tech event featuring podium dancers wearing sexy schoolgirl-style outfits.

Female developers expressed their anger at being greeted by the scantily-clad dancers at a conference party in San Francisco.

Many said it sent an inappropriate message for an industry which is already heavily dominated by men.

Kamina Vincent of the Game Developers’ Association of Australia tweeted "Thanks for pushing me out of this party, Microsoft."

She told The Mary Sue website that she was left "feeling very uncomfortable" by the dynamic and chose to leave the event.

"I did speak with several women after deciding to leave the party and their views were all consistent with mine," she added.

Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft's Head of Xbox Games Marketing, later said that he was "very disappointed" at the "completely unacceptable" choice of entertainers.

Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, later said the way the event had been run was "unequivocally wrong" and "absolutely not consistent or aligned to our values".