DOAX3 officially not being localized for the west

[gyrobot_v1legacy]

http://nichegamer.com/2015/11/no-plans-to-bring-dead-or-alive-xtreme-3-west-developer-koei-tecmo-fears-backlash/

Well it has happened, finally the fears that the hostile press responses has finally made one dev capitulate to their demands by refusing to localize

 

[Nielas]

http://nichegamer.com/2015/11/no-plans-to-bring-dead-or-alive-xtreme-3-west-developer-koei-tecmo-fears-backlash/

Well it has happened, finally the fears that the hostile press responses has finally made one dev capitulate to their demands by refusing to localize

Sounds to me like a company deciding that the US market for the game is too small to make the localization profitable. Then someone makes a BS excuse so the fans are upset at someone else.

 

[Tohuvabohu]

Sounds to me like a company deciding that the US market for the game is too small to make the localization profitable. Then someone makes a BS excuse so the fans are upset at someone else.

Hmmm... What evidence do you have of this?

OT: This is pretty troubling. Hopefully this doesn't become a trend or anything. Not that I was planning on buying the game myself, I'm sure other people in this region of the world would have liked to buy it.

 

[DrownedAmmet]

Even if they did refuse to port the game because they were afraid of how people would view it, wouldn't that be an example of the free market at work? They figured the bad publicity wouldn't be worth the money they would make by porting it to the west.

That's assuming that is the reason they chose not to export it, of course. From the article you posted I wasn't quite sure if they gave a reason, the quotes had some pretty broken English

 

[Nielas]

Sounds to me like a company deciding that the US market for the game is too small to make the localization profitable. Then someone makes a BS excuse so the fans are upset at someone else.

Hmmm... What evidence do you have of this?

OT: This is pretty troubling. Hopefully this doesn't become a trend or anything. Not that I was planning on buying the game myself, I'm sure other people in this region of the world would have liked to buy it.

Occam's Razor when it comes to corporations: the most likely reason is profit or lack of.

They are not making "Paris ISIS Simulator". The "backlash" is not going to be significant and the product is niche enough that it will not really affect their target audience much. People who would buy this game are not likely to be persuaded from doing so because someone cries "objectification of women" on the Internet. A US backlash will not affect their sales in Asia.

 

[Tohuvabohu]

Occam's Razor when it comes to corporations: the most likely reason is profit or lack of.

Let's call a spade a spade here... You don't have any evidence.

A US backlash will not affect their sales in Asia.

Now wait a minute. The previous DOAX sold better in NA than it did in Japan. In fact, North America plus Europe accounted for almost 70% of the total sales. Japan combined with the rest of the eastern world don't even break 30%. Both DOAX games were much bigger successes in the west.

The game didn't sell that much, but that's a pretty big chunk of sales, and a majority of the profit came from these regions.

This version of DOAX is already going to have English subtitles in place. I'm not sure if the devs are really telling the truth or not. But to not release the game in parts of the world where it has historically been the most successful by a wide margin, especially when elements of localization are going to be in place already... is a strange decision.

 

[Elfgore]

I highly doubt the potential backlash from people who would get their balls in a twist over this are not the reason the game is coming to the West. From what I've seen of companies who mostly work in Japan, they really don't care at all what people think about them in the west. Just look at the ongoing Techmo Koei's PC ports, the forums are flooded with people complaining and they really don't seem to care at all.

Like others have said, it's most likely a money thing. They don't think that the cost of localizing, which most likely would have to include a dub, will profit them enough. I mean think about, since when has Japan cared about what people in the West think about them?

 

[Bad Jim]

Sounds to me like a company deciding that the US market for the game is too small to make the localization profitable.

But there's like 300 million people in the USA, compared to just 130 million or so in Japan. And then there's the other English speaking countries, along with a bunch of countries in Europe like Sweden that don't officially speak English but everyone learns it anyway. And it's a lot cheaper to localize than it would have been to make the original game.

 

[Tanis]

Occam's Razor when it comes to corporations: the most likely reason is profit or lack of.

Let's call a spade a spade here... You don't have any evidence.

Neither do you.
So, why act like you do?


OT:
Considering how often this company pulls pants-on-head retarded moves, I'm not really surprised.

Then again, it doesn't help that the series is as stale as the CoD games.

Even KI is more fun, which is weird to say.

 

[Tohuvabohu]

Neither do you.
So, why act like you do?

I'm not the one who made the assertion that the company did this move for the sake of profit. Not that it matters, because within the same post you just quoted, I provided evidence that points to the contrary of his assertion.

How did you manage to miss the... uhh... you know... all the evidence I provided from regional sales charts and reports of English localization elements?

The more I think about this, the stranger it seems. Why cut off the game from the biggest audience? Is it really a localization issue, when there's english subtitles already in place? Is it the sheer cost of providing physical copies, to a region where it sells more than it does within Asia? This just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Asclepion]

OP's link said that they contacted Koei Tecmo, so hopefully we'll know more in a few hours.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Bummer. I kind of wanted to play the game. For, uh, purely research purposes of course!

I wouldn't be surprised if they change their mind though. I hope they do. They've never really cared before about what people thought of their games. I still remember the creator saying that he wanted to make the girls super sexy because it was fun, plain and simple.

 

[Nielas]

Occam's Razor when it comes to corporations: the most likely reason is profit or lack of.

Let's call a spade a spade here... You don't have any evidence.

A US backlash will not affect their sales in Asia.

Now wait a minute. The previous DOAX sold better in NA than it did in Japan. In fact, North America plus Europe accounted for almost 70% of the total sales. Japan combined with the rest of the eastern world don't even break 30%. Both DOAX games were much bigger successes in the west.

The game didn't sell that much, but that's a pretty big chunk of sales, and a majority of the profit came from these regions.

This version of DOAX is already going to have English subtitles in place. I'm not sure if the devs are really telling the truth or not. But to not release the game in parts of the world where it has historically been the most successful by a wide margin, especially when elements of localization are going to be in place already... is a strange decision.

I have to apologize. I forgot that Hanlon's Razor is just as valid when it comes to corporations: sometimes they will make plainly stupid decisions or decisions based on strange reasoning.

Unless the new game is significantly more "offensive" then the previous ones, I just do not see how any possible backlash would have a great effect on sales. The game's audience just does not seem like it would care.

 

[gyrobot_v1legacy]

Occam's Razor when it comes to corporations: the most likely reason is profit or lack of.

Let's call a spade a spade here... You don't have any evidence.

A US backlash will not affect their sales in Asia.

Now wait a minute. The previous DOAX sold better in NA than it did in Japan. In fact, North America plus Europe accounted for almost 70% of the total sales. Japan combined with the rest of the eastern world don't even break 30%. Both DOAX games were much bigger successes in the west.

The game didn't sell that much, but that's a pretty big chunk of sales, and a majority of the profit came from these regions.

This version of DOAX is already going to have English subtitles in place. I'm not sure if the devs are really telling the truth or not. But to not release the game in parts of the world where it has historically been the most successful by a wide margin, especially when elements of localization are going to be in place already... is a strange decision.

I have to apologize. I forgot that Hanlon's Razor is just as valid when it comes to corporations: sometimes they will make plainly stupid decisions or decisions based on strange reasoning.

Unless the new game is significantly more "offensive" then the previous ones, I just do not see how any possible backlash would have a great effect on sales. The game's audience just does not seem like it would care.

We live in different times, the current attitude towards this kind of game from the press is hostile towards oversexualization.

 

[Supernova1138]

Occam's Razor when it comes to corporations: the most likely reason is profit or lack of.

Let's call a spade a spade here... You don't have any evidence.

A US backlash will not affect their sales in Asia.

Now wait a minute. The previous DOAX sold better in NA than it did in Japan. In fact, North America plus Europe accounted for almost 70% of the total sales. Japan combined with the rest of the eastern world don't even break 30%. Both DOAX games were much bigger successes in the west.

The game didn't sell that much, but that's a pretty big chunk of sales, and a majority of the profit came from these regions.

This version of DOAX is already going to have English subtitles in place. I'm not sure if the devs are really telling the truth or not. But to not release the game in parts of the world where it has historically been the most successful by a wide margin, especially when elements of localization are going to be in place already... is a strange decision.

I have to apologize. I forgot that Hanlon's Razor is just as valid when it comes to corporations: sometimes they will make plainly stupid decisions or decisions based on strange reasoning.

Unless the new game is significantly more "offensive" then the previous ones, I just do not see how any possible backlash would have a great effect on sales. The game's audience just does not seem like it would care.

It's likely not the game's sales Koei-Tecmo is worried about, it's their company's image in North America. DOAX3 is virtually guaranteed to be lambasted by the American gaming press for being sexist. As a result, Koei-Tecmo will be painted as misogynistic, and there is a good chance they'll see petitions demanding their games be withdrawn from sale or some other sort of social media pressure that will be exerted against them. As such, from a reputational standpoint, it might be better for them to not sell the game to the West at all, at least not directly to try to avoid all the drama.

The game will supposedly have English subs available, and it's not region locked on PS4, so if you really wanted it in North America, you could import it. Japanese publishers may start taking this stance on the more controversial titles that can't be heavily censored to avoid accusations of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and whatever else the American gaming press is railing against for clicks.

 

[Tohuvabohu]

I have to apologize. I forgot that Hanlon's Razor is just as valid when it comes to corporations: sometimes they will make plainly stupid decisions or decisions based on strange reasoning.

Unless the new game is significantly more "offensive" then the previous ones, I just do not see how any possible backlash would have a great effect on sales. The game's audience just does not seem like it would care.

I mean, the dev's claim that this game is being withheld from western audiences due to fears of backlash is a really big and serious claim... That's why I'm hesitant to brush this off as mere excuses for cost-cutting (especially when the west is the biggest audience for the franchise)

It's certainly possible this is just the result of dumb business decisions. This is the same industry and country that produced Konami, after all... But we don't really have any way of proving the veracity of their claims.

Anyway, I'm sorry if my post was rude. I'm personally just very hesitant about taking a cynical stance on this just yet. What a bizarre situation...

 

[Paragon Fury]

Occam's Razor when it comes to corporations: the most likely reason is profit or lack of.

Let's call a spade a spade here... You don't have any evidence.

A US backlash will not affect their sales in Asia.

Now wait a minute. The previous DOAX sold better in NA than it did in Japan. In fact, North America plus Europe accounted for almost 70% of the total sales. Japan combined with the rest of the eastern world don't even break 30%. Both DOAX games were much bigger successes in the west.

The game didn't sell that much, but that's a pretty big chunk of sales, and a majority of the profit came from these regions.

This version of DOAX is already going to have English subtitles in place. I'm not sure if the devs are really telling the truth or not. But to not release the game in parts of the world where it has historically been the most successful by a wide margin, especially when elements of localization are going to be in place already... is a strange decision.

I have to apologize. I forgot that Hanlon's Razor is just as valid when it comes to corporations: sometimes they will make plainly stupid decisions or decisions based on strange reasoning.

Unless the new game is significantly more "offensive" then the previous ones, I just do not see how any possible backlash would have a great effect on sales. The game's audience just does not seem like it would care.

Because backlash today has the power to cripple or severely hurt developers, even if its just a small minority. SJWs have an absolute 110% mastery of being able to project and put out outrage far beyond their numbers; as evidenced by groups like say, Feminist Frequency despite being obviously and veritably batshit insane receiving endorsements and cooperation from companies like Google.

On topic; I haz a sad that the fun sidegame for my favorite fighting series won't be coming stateside.

 

[Treeberry]

Well, this is even more silly than the subject of the game. And I call BS on their reasoning, they're using the caterwauling fools of the internet as a really poor excuse. A thirteen year old's excuse.

Ah well, these games seem kind of boring anyway and judging by a quick research this only seems to have a small portion of the characters in it. Meh. You'd think Zack would be playable at least.

Edit: I do love casino minigames...

Because backlash today has the power to cripple or severely hurt developers, even if its just a small minority. SJWs have an absolute 110% mastery of being able to project and put out outrage far beyond their numbers; as evidenced by groups like say, Feminist Frequency despite being obviously and veritably batshit insane receiving endorsements and cooperation from companies like Google.

On topic; I haz a sad that the fun sidegame for my favorite fighting series won't be coming stateside.

Do they? I don't pay much attention to this kind of stuff, what games have they affected? I do agree they don't come across as very good critics though (go figure, decent critics are rare in general).

Edit: I misread/misinterpreted part of the quoted post. Ooops. Still, it's Tecmo Koei's decision. Even if a nebulous pressure group did start acting poorly towards them, it'd still be their decision.

 

[Tony2077]

so is it really not coming over because of a certain group?