There's a lot of horny fanart out in the world, and some of it is so extreme that Dead or Alive publisher Koei Tecmo takes down thousands of posts a year.
In a new report from GameWatch (with translations provided by Automaton) based on the recent Tokyo esports Festa 2025, Tomotoshi Nishimura, general manager of Koei Tecmo’s legal affairs department shed some light on how the company feels about fanart.
Nishimura says that Koei Tecmo has no issue with fans creating art based on characters they love, and the company even supports those profiting from their fanart as evidenced by it sponsoring events like Comiket where people sell fanart.
However, the company does have boundaries it enforces. It takes "strict action" against two to three thousand pieces of fanart each year.
One reason it will take down fanart is if it's based on art from video games that aren't out yet. Another big reason is if fanart includes characters that have been changed to suit "adult purposes" and could therefore damage their reputation.