Shenmue 3 Kickstarter's Highest Funded Video Game, Passes Bloodstained in Final Hours

"Koji Igarashi's Kickstarter campaign for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night became the website's most funded video game when its campaign ended at $5,545,991. This form of funding is relatively young, however, so records don't last a long time. Just now, Shenmue 3's Kickstarter has overtaken the mark set by Bloodstained." -PSLS

[knifefight]

Did a $5000 contributor pull out or something? It was at 5.555 for me, then 5.550, then it kept going up and down? x_x

Buyer's remorse? LOL who knows.

[MightyNoX]

Probably a troll...but WHO CARES!

SHENMUUUUUUUUUUUEEE!!

[MiamiACR25]

SHENMUUUUUUUUUUUEEE!! ...but WHO CARES!

[MiamiACR25]

Did a $5000 contributor pull out or something? It was at 5.555 for me, then 5.550, then it kept going up and down?

[knifefight]

Um, did you just copy and paste what I said?

Edit: And the same thing to the guy above you?

[Vanfernal]

This game could've made so much more of it wasn't for the misinformation smear campaign that stated Sony was secretly funding the game... I just hope it gets enough funding from somewhere else to become the full game it had the potential to become.

[Death]

You can choose to believe it was a smear campaign or you can look at sales of the last Shenmue which was 400,000 copies. If sales were as good as the hype, the game never would have needed to be a kickstarter in the first place. I'm a fan of the series and actually bought the first two. I wish the people that claim to love the series so much put their money where their mouth is and bought them when they had the chance.

[ameliabaz]

I agree. While I don't like how pessimistic the media has been about Shenmue 3, I think it's naive to believe the negative media is the reason the kickstarter didn't skyrocket to 10 million dollars.

I adore Shenmue but I can also admit that the series is niche and didn't sell very well ten years ago, so that probably has more impact on why the Shenmue 3 kickstarter didn't do as well as fans thought it would.

[Bobertt]

@ameliabaz
When it was announced it got to 3-4 million fast then after those articles came out with their wrong information it slowed down significantly. At one point it was only getting about $10,000 a day. The developer cleared up some stuff afterwards and added more rewards and it picked up again but nowhere near what it was doing before.

[Death]

@Bobertt,

The kickstarter also stalled when E3 ended. Is it safe to say E3 ending is to blame? When the kickstarter was announced, those that were really excited about the announcement that also keep up to date with current game news pledged money for the kickstarter. There isn't an infinite amount of people that were going to join the campaign. Once those that were interested donated, the contributions slowed. Blaming a smear campaign is an excuse for the kickstarter not doing what you expected.

[BallsEye]

if sony would believe in the game they advertise, they would fund it. Where is sony's love for the games? They should take example of Phil Spencer, who pushes for remakes of the games he and the fans love, despite bad sales.

[S2Killinit]

I think people who played it can attest to its worthiness which as we can see has broken the kickstarter record. So I don't think the fans need to put their money where their mouth is because thats what they have been doing. If you ask me, the sales were not as good as the hype because the game switched consoles. The xbox fans didn't even know about the game for the most part. This was also because the game didn't get the recognition it needed the first time around because the console on which it was made went under.

[rainslacker]

Not sure what sales have to do with whether or not there was a smear campaign. It may not have been willful from some of the sites, but there were some major sites calling things out without getting any sort of verification before deciding to run with their story. When it gained traction, it kept going even after it had been clarified...on multiple occasions.

I don't know how much the misinformation slowed down the campaign though. I think it may have had some effect, but not in the neighborhood of millions of dollars. It's rather normal for campaigns to slow down within the first week, only to see moderate increases until a surge at the end.

Edit:Rereading your comment, it seems you may have been saying the same thing, with less details.

[Neonridr]

so who is paying for the rest of this game then? Because 5 million is certainly not enough to make a game of this caliber.

[deathtok]

I'm surprised to see you say this given the rise of indie, small budget teams.

Consider that $5.6m might become $4.5m after fees and rewards. This leaves plenty of money to provide a competitive salary, license software, pay actors, etc.

[Neonridr]

@deathtok - considering the previous Shenmue cost upwards of 70 million to make, I am curious to know in what world will 4-5 million be enough to make an open world game the size of Shenmue 3. There has to be someone behind the curtains footing the rest of the bill.

[Death]

Shenmue 3 isn't using a custom game engine like the first. It will be using Unreal Engine 4 which can be used for free. Any commercial released games pay 5% royalty on gross sales. Shenmue 3 isn't going to be the same ground breaking game as the first on a technical level.

[deathtok]

@neonridr

I'm not willing to play conspiracy on funding.

I will say that Shenmue costs have been contended before--neither one of us have the facts. That $70m has been disputed with reports as low as $47m, including marketing and including costs for Shenmue 2.

My point is that it's entirely believable that a team of 8-10 is building this game. Sony admittedly is taking care of PS4 port costs so there might be additional headcount related to that.

Feel free to do some math on this one, I'm not being smug but curious why you think this is far fetched.

[Neonridr]

@deathok - hey, you could be completely right. I am merely comparing numbers here (even at 47 million it's a heck of a lot more than 5-6). I hope it is entirely feasible, I hope it doesn't turn into the money went towards building a first episode of Shenmue 3 or something.

I just personally feel that 5 million isn't enough. If I am wrong, so be it, I am not a developer. It just seems small for their vision.

[tiffac008]

Well Witcher 3 cost $13M to make, excluding marketing and Witcher 3 is bigger in scope and deeper in mechanics than Shenmue.

So if Ys Net is going traditional in their approach and build a game with qualities and size similar to Yakuza then the KS funds should be enough.

Marketing and distribution will be done by Sony (PS4) and Shibuya Productions (PC) respectively.

Also, I agree even without the negative press. This KS would not have made it to $10M. There is a reason its on KS to begin with.

[RiseofScorpio]

Witcher 3 cost 35 million to make. What the hell are you talking about.

[Kayant]

If you really care the info has been detailed and re detailed several times an can be found on kickstarter.

[S2Killinit]

The rest will be funded by Sony and other investors, just like any other intellectual property. When people started talking nonsense with the whole "smear campaign" I tried to inform people about how the entertainment industry works. To make a long story short, there was no "fraud" and the developer is doing what all developers do. except in this case, the kickstarter was used to "kickstart" the game (as its called in the entertainment industry in general). After that, investors pick up the tab. Its just how it works.

[tiffac008]

^ its already been clariied what Sony is involved in that is why funding is continued on PayPal ala Star Citizen.

@Waluigi

That includes marketing, remember Google is your friend

[rainslacker]

Shibuya productions is providing the rest of the funding. The KS was to gauge interest to determine if they would invest, and they likely had different levels they were willing to invest depending on how much the KS gained...although that's just speculation. Sony is providing publishing and marketing support for the game, and will be paying for the PS4 port.

http://arstechnica.com/gami...

[tiffac008]

@Waluigi

My bad bro I got the wrong info/quote on the Witchers 3 dev cost, you are correct. My apologies man~~~

[Vanfernal]

Not saying it could've made the 10 million. However numbers don't lie. The Kickstarter lost all momentum and got stuck in a rut once those articles started coming out.

@Death

Even with selling only 400k on an ailing system it ended up being the most successful game kickstarter of all time. That proves that the interest is there.

[Death]

You can't say the articles were the cause of the loss of interest. I would be more inclined to say those that were interested in contributing did so early and then interest died off. You are assuming there was a larger base of people that would have contributed. Almost 63,000 people have backed Shenmue 3. That is over 15% of the people that actually bought Shenmue 2. That is huge especially when you look at the fact Shenmue 2 released almost 15 years ago.

[jivah]

Debatable. Id probably still give that honor to star citizen. But i guess facts are facts as shenmue raised more during the initial funding period. Although star citizen now sits at a lofty 85 million in total

[Vanfernal]

@jivah I didn't say it was the highest crowd funded game ever. I'm well aware of Star Citizen. I said it was the most successfully funded KICKSTARTER game, as in the Kickstarter website. Which it is.

[jivah]

Did You read my comment? I think thats the reason i wrote "But i guess facts are facts as shenmue raised more during the initial funding period". Unless i had to be that precise with my words

[MiamiACR25]

I just hope it gets enough funding from somewhere else to become the full game it had the potential to become.

[mafiahajeri]

Well deserved ps4 version for me, let's hope it reaches 6 mil

[GiantFriendlyCrab]

so is Sony going to fund the rest?

[Spotie]

Thanks to some thieving bastards, I don't have a home, a PS4, or even a TV anymore.

Still funding the game, though!

Edit:dammit, this was to ahmay below.

[Tonykid]

Should you use your money better? Sucks you lost all that stuff but you got more pressing matters then fund a kickstarter game

[andibandit]

How did they steal your home?

[Spotie]

They stole rent money, instead, then proceeded to evict us. They even took a payment the day before, but claim to have no records of two months worth of money. Their maintenance guys cleared out the house, and made off with my TV, PS4, PS3, PS2, Vita, 3DS, and 360.

At this point, that $60 is a drop in the bucket, so I'm not gonna be upset. Plus, I look at it like an investment, since it'll be a while before the game comes out.

[Irishguy95]

You gotta keep records yourself man, sorry to hear. Alot of this **** going around though, its a sick world. Transactions should be done via banks for your own safety though ya know?

If you can manage, look for a lawyer and ask them about your case

[Spotie]

I doubt there's much I can do. They already recently fired someone from the office for stealing money. Now they say that, up until Thursday, we haven't paid since May. All my electronics are gone, right down to the charger for my laptop and every extension cord I had (fortunately my laptop was with me at work). On top of my car breaking down a few weeks ago and paying to get everything they didn't take moved into a storage unit, I can barely afford to get to work until Friday.

But, whenever I can get another PS4- and TV- I'll have a physical copy of Shenmue waiting.

[Ahmay]

OK, just helped out with $60 for a ps4 physical copy... and guess what.. I have never played the first two.. muahahaha...

[Neonridr]

blindly jumping in huh? I hope you like the game then.. ;)

[Ahmay]

What I do know is the music is beautiful... to my liking...

might have supported bloodstained too. if I had known about it at the time..

[Neonridr]

I had to support Bloodstained. Castlevania games are my cup of tea.. :)

[CernaML]

Never played any Shenmue game either but I jumped in for a physical copy. I also helped fund Amplitude a year ago and from what I've played, it was worth every penny. Don't know why people downplay Kickstarter so much. Games like these wouldn't exist then.

Definitely looking forward to this release now. :)

[rainslacker]

I'm impressed. That takes some faith if you have never played the games before. Hope you enjoy it. The first two were a unique experience, and I hope the sequel can carry on to keep the fans happy.

[Artemidorus]

Now Sony provide the rest of the cash and give us all a great game

[gleepot]

Of all the games to be the highest funded... Shenmue is? Yawn.

[BillytheBarbarian]

Did you ever watch movies about martial arts?
Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Jean Claude...etc
Shenmue speaks to gamers that idolized Blood sport, Karate Kid, Kick Boxer, American Ninja, Enter the Dragon, and early games like Double Dragon, Karate Champ, Streets of Rage, Street fighter 2, mortal Kombat.

If you don't like the stuff I just listed then you won't enjoy Shenmue. It's a martial arts RPG.

[BillytheBarbarian]

I'm sure Sega will still help in some way. As far as we know Sega just wasn't willing to pay for the entire game. Yu Suzuki went out on his own to build partnerships to get it going. Sony was the logical partner as they recently announced to localize Yakuza. We really don't know who the big producers will be. Microsoft might even push money to it to help the Windows 10 library. It's just too early. Seems like Sega should do some sort of PR to at least let fans know they're backing it as well. Yu Suzuki basically built Sega's biggest arcade names in the 80s and 90s so I don't understand Sega's silence. Unless something came out and I didn't see it yet.

[aerisbueller]

I thought Star Citizen was more, but I looked it up and I was wrong.

Star Citizen made a little over 2 million on Kickstarter, but continued the campaign on their own site, and it now stands at just over 85 million ( https://robertsspaceindustr...

I think any high profile game that needs a monstrous budget to realize it's full potential (including Shenmue) should consider the donation button on their homepage following their successful Kickstarter.

[Irishguy95]

Yeah that confused me too, last I heard Star Citizen had 40 mill
**** me tho 85

Wow

[peshkavusCA]

As much as I would love this game to be successful, this may not sell enough (Look at Jade Empire). Majority of westerners are not into Asian RPG or any asian themed games.

[RiseofScorpio]

Why aren't they announcing other platforms? If they were bringing it to Xone and WiiU/NX they would get even more money for the kickstarter. Sony isn't really paying for this game, but they've probably asked Suzuki to keep quiet about more platforms for now.

[Serg]

Wii U is all but dead at this point and way too weak to allow for a quick port, it would have to be a different version especially for the Wii U, out of budget for them. Games that are considered niche in the west almost never did good on Xbox hardware.

It would be a tiny uptick for a promise they have to deliver on and would most likely cost way more than they would gain.

[Stringerbell]

Sony is offering millions of dollars in free publication, advertisement and marketing in exchange for console exclusivity. Without Sony, YS net would have to divert their KS funds towards this. I'd rather have all these KS funds go towards the development of the game making it a better experience than a small portion, because YS Net has to pay to market and publish the game.

[Kayant]

"in exchange for console exclusivity. Without Sony, YS net would have to divert their KS funds towards this." - This isn't completely true. As far as we know neither Sony or YS.net announced any kind of formal exclusivity so Sony's involvement isn't the reason why it's console exclusivity. i.e with something like Street fighter they clearly say it was console exclusive when it was announced.

It's exclusive because they are the only one outside Shibuya Productions that is helping out with the project. Nothing is stopping it coming to other platforms if they can in future. Sony's involvement doesn't mean it's exclusive see things like their Pub fund program(Axiom Verge) although the difference with that program is the exclusivity is something that devs give Sony in exchange for their help - https://www.playstation.com...

With either their pub fund program, or Sony WWS partnering with a third party the exclusivity is usually announced/known. Here nothing has been announced so far that points it being the case with this game.

[tiffac008]

Kayant is correct this is what we have been trying to tell people, Sony is only involved with the distribution and marketing for the PS4. If Yu and Ys Net gets more funding via PayPal they may bring the game to other consoles, that is why Yu said its under consideration. If Sony put money in the game then it would be an exclusive to the PS4 but that is not the case.

[MadMax]

Made my $60 pledge for PS4 physical copy!

[S2Killinit]

As did I. I can't wait to get my PS4 physical copy (:

[S2Killinit]

There is still 100 minutes left if you want to get your own physical copy!

[alti]

BOOM, shot up to 6 million!

[SuMtOnE]

I hope they include a HD remake of 1 & 2 cause I never played it.

[Tonykid]

Glorified preorder.

[About30Ninjas]

If this new Shenmue ends up being good I download it when it comes out on PS Plus