Evo Japan took down its stream from Twitch temporarily on Friday after several inappropriate moments involving the presenters of a promotion for soon-to-be-released fighting game Dead or Alive 6.
During a demonstration of the game in Fukuoka, Japan, the screen paused multiple times and zoomed in on female characters' body parts, or characters who were shown in sexually suggestive positions, remaining paused for several seconds and up to a minute.
Later, two women helping present the game -- Gravure models Saki Yoshida and Yuka Kuramochi -- began intentionally adjusting their clothing to be more revealing and posing as the camera zoomed in on them. One woman then mockingly spanked the other, and the two began bouncing up and down in reference to the game's "jiggle physics" while revealing their cleavage.
Evo director Joey Cuellar issued an apology on Twitter that has since been deleted, writing, "The DOA ad that aired on our stream does not reflect the core values of Evo or the FGC. We ended the stream temporarily to protect the integrity of our brand. We sincerely apologize to our fans."
Evo's global head of business development, Mark "MarkMan" Julio, appeared on the stream after it was put back online to issue an apology as well.
"I just want to get on stream and apologize on behalf of Triple Perfect and the Evo Championship Series," MarkMan said. "The stuff that was just on-screen just recently, from one of our partners that were showcasing their recent title that is going to be coming out, does not reflect the content and intention of Evo, so we do apologize if we offended anyone during the broadcast."
The channel was not shut down by Twitch, and the stream resumed with more typical game fighting action.
Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo, the game's developer and publisher, have said previously they intended to tone down the sexuality of the game's female characters in the new edition compared to previous editions.
Dead or Alive 6 is set to be released March 1.
-- Field Level Media