‘Shenmue III’ ends Kickstarter campaign with over $7 million raised

By Aaron Mamiit November 24, 2018

The Kickstarter campaign of the long-awaited Shenmue III has officially ended, raising more than $7 million from over 80,000 backers.

Shenmue III‘s original Kickstarter campaign, which ended in July 2015, raised $6.33 million. At the time, it held the record as the highest-funded video game on the crowdfunding platform. However, developer Ys Net decided to give fans a second chance to support the project in the form of a Slacker Backer campaign.

The Shenmue III campaign is now closed, with final numbers of a funding total of $7,179,510 from 81,087 backers. In an update on the Kickstarter website, Ys Net declared it as an “impressive” haul for the crowdfunding drive.

“Seeing the final numbers, all of us here can’t help but feel all over again the immensity of the support everyone has given to make this project come true! Thank you!” Ys Net said on the campaign’s update 93.

Backers who pledged at least $29 will receive a digital copy of Shenmue III for the PC or PlayStation 4, while those who pledged $60 or more will instead receive a physical copy of the game in an exclusive backer-only case. The pledge tiers went as high as $10,000, with backers being promised rewards such as the original jacket worn by Masaya Matsukaze, the actor who plays series protagonist Ryo Hazuki, in the press events for Shenmue 14 years ago; dinner with project director and producer Yu Suzuki; and becoming an NPC in Shenmue III.

In update 93, Ys Net also said that there are less than 10 months left until the Shenmue III release date of August 27, 2019, which means that the project is on track for its target launch. The estimated delivery window for Shenmue III is still listed as December 2017 on the Kickstarter page, but the release date was pushed back into mid-2019 earlier this year.

Shenmue III will follow 1999’s Shenmue and 2001’s Shenmue II, which were both originally released for the Sega Dreamcast. Gamers who would like to follow or relive the adventures of Ryo before the arrival of Shenmue III may do so on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, as the first two games in the series were re-released into the current-generation platforms this year.

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