'Dead or Alive 6's Mature Rating Warns of Questionable Levels of Fan Service

Dead or Alive 6 is still a couple of months out, but before it releases the fine folk over at the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB, the organization that rates your games in North America), have taken the game for a test-run in order to determine a content rating for the fighting game.

So, what has the ESRB concluded? Well, that Dead or Alive 6 is a "M" for "Mature" game with possibly some questionable levels of fan service, neither of which is very surprising given that this is Dead or Alive we are talking about.

The ESRB broadly warns of blood, language, sexual themes, and violence. It also makes note of online user interaction and in-app purchases, the latter of which doesn't equate to microtransactions, at least not always.

Anyway, the ESRB also provides the following "rating summary":

"This is a fighting game in which players engage in one-on-one matches with martial artists from around the world. Players mostly use punches and kicks to drain opponents' life meters in fast-paced matches. Fighters can perform specialized attacks (e.g., magic blasts, exaggerated impact strikes), which are highlighted by slow-motion effects, close-up camera angles, and blood-splatter effects. Cutscenes depict additional acts of violence: robotic characters cut in half with a sword; helicopter machine guns shooting characters on the ground. A handful of costumes depict characters with narrow strips of cloth that barely cover their buttocks and/or pelvic areas. Some female fighters' breasts jiggle while standing or fighting. In some sequences, players have the ability to zoom in on characters' cleavage, posterior, or underwear, and take pictures. The word "sh*t" appears in the dialogue."

Sounds like Dead or Alive, for better or for worst. The series is well-known for its sexualization of fighters, and for things like advanced jiggle physics. Neither of which make it a better fighting game, but eh, whatever.

Dead or Alive 6 is in development for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. At the moment of publishing this, there's been no word of a Nintendo Switch port.

The fighting game is poised to release on February 15, priced at $59.99. For more coverage on the game, including our impressions, click here.