Shenmue 3 reaches $2 million Kickstarter funding goal
In a span of about 10 hours, Shenmue 3 has already reached its $2 million Kickstarter funding goal and is already surging towards its first stretch goal.
Series creator Yu Suzuki shocked the collective gaming world when we walked on stage during Sony’s E3 press conference last night to announce he’s going to Kickstarter to bring the third entry to fans. Now that it reached its goal, the game will be released on the PlayStation 4 and PC for an estimated release date of December 2017.
“If Shenmue 3 was going to get made, I wanted to make it with the fans,” Suzuki wrote on the Kickstarter page. “Through Kickstarter, I knew that could happen. Together, with Shenmue fans everywhere, I knew we could build the game that the series deserves.
“If we do not reach our funding goal, Shenmue 3 will not go forward,” he continued. “I know that the goal of making Shenmue 3 with the fans, and seeing Shenmue in the hands of gamers all around the world is a lofty one. We are balancing our ambitions for a grand sequel with the pragmatic realities of developing a game of this scale. It will not be easy, but I have dreamed of making this sequel for 14 years – it is time to bring Shenmue back! And to make it come true, it will need the love and support from each and every one of you!”
The first stretch goal at $2.5 million is to release “Shenmue 1 and 2 Cinema Shorts,” which could be similar, although probably not as long, to Shenmue: The Movie, which recapped events from the first game. After that are several stretch goals for several different subtitle languages, including German, French, Italian and Spanish. Where things get interesting, though, is at the $3.2 million stretch goal, where a rapport system will be added to the game, which would be a series first.
Although it’s still early, Shenmue 3’s Kickstarter project looks to be on pace to shatter the $5.5 million record recently raised by Castlevania’s spiritual successor, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
