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Shenmue 3 has raised over $7 million in total through crowdfunding

Shenmue 3 has raised over $7 million in total through crowdfunding

Shenmue 3 has wrapped up three years of crowdfunding with a $7,179,510 total.

The sequel-come-revival of the cult Sega classic wrapped up crowdfunding efforts in September, reports Polygon, with developer Ys Net only now revealing the total raised.

Shenmue 3’s Kickstarter campaign was bizarrely announced on Sony’s E3 stage back in 2015, clearing its intended $2 million goal in less than a day. Over the following month, the game earned $6,333,295.

Ys Net opened a “slacker backer” campaign in September 2015 following the official Kickstarter, open to backers who missed the initial drive or who wanted to add a little more.

Shenmue 3’s crowdfunding efforts courted controversy quickly, with the developer’s relationship with Sony unclear for months despite the publisher platforming the Kickstarter on its E3 stage (a stage it has relinquished for 2019).

Franchise creator Yu Suzuki later clarified that crowdfunding would only partially make up the game’s total budget.

Deep Silver picked up publishing rights for Shenmue 3 at the end of 2017. The game is due for release on August 27th 2019, following two delays.


Staff Writer

Natalie Clayton is an Edinburgh-based freelance writer and game developer. Besides PCGamesInsider and Pocketgamer.biz, she's written across the games media landscape and was named in the 2018 GamesIndustry.biz 100 Rising Star list.