The revelation that the UK 'Zombie Bait' edition of Dead Island Riptide would include a headless, bikini-clad female Torso resulted in a massive backlash against Deep Silver.

The company billed the 31-by-18.5cm hand painted statuette as a "grotesque take on an iconic Roman marble torso sculpture."

"We wanted to provide a unique collector's edition that was utterly 'Dead Island' and would make a striking conversation piece on any discerning zombie gamer's mantel," said Deep Silver sales and marketing director Paul Nicholls.

Discerning is an odd word for this even if used fascetiously, and while it must be conceded that there is some passing resemblance to greco-roman sculpture, it seems safe to say the Zombie Bait edition was not pandering to art history majors.

In the wake of the massive outcry over the statue, Deep Silver has apologized for its decision.

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"For the limited run of the Zombie Bait Edition for Europe and Australia, a decision was made to include a gruesome statue of a zombie torso, which was cut up like many of our fans had done to the undead enemies in the original Dead Island," reads a company statement issued over Twitter.

"We sincerely regret this choice. We are collecting feedback continuously from the Dead Island community, as well as the international gaming community at large, for ongoing internal meetings with Deep Silver's entire international team today."

The controversy comes days after US Vice President Joe Biden called on the games industry to think of ways to change its public image.

It should go without saying this isn't the response he expected.

"For now," continued Deep Silver," we want to reiterate to the community, fans and industry how deeply sorry we are, and that we are committed to making sure this will never happen again."