Shenmue 3 announces final crowdfunding total

Shenmue 3 raised $7,179,510 over a three-year crowdfunding campaign, developer Ys Net revealed in an email to donors this week.

The campaign had concluded in September; Ys Net hadn’t revealed the final tally until now. It means that the continuing crowdfunding, raised after the project’s 2015 Kickstarter, brought in about $800,000. In all, 81,087 donated to the sequel.

Shenmue 3‘s Kickstarter was announced at PlayStation’s E3 2015 keynote, delightful for fans but controversial to some. That raised $6,333,295 in its monthlong campaign, clearing the $2 million originally sought in less than a day. In September 2015, Ys Net opened a “slacker backer” campaign that continued until this year.

Ys Net offered stretch goals for milestones up to $11 million. Yu Suzuki, the franchise’s creator, said in 2015 that the crowdfunding sought was just a portion of the budget needed to make the game, not its entirety. Still, he raised eyebrows when he said that $10 million would be needed to make the game a true open-world experience.

Shenmue 3, the long awaited sequel to the Xbox (and Dreamcast, elsewhere) adventure from 2001 and 2002, was given an Aug. 27, 2019 launch date back in August; it had been delayed twice before. The game will launch on PlayStation 4 and Windows PC.