Shenmue 3 Kickstarter smashes records but falls short of $10m target

Shenmue 3 Kickstarter smashes records but falls short of $10m target
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The ambitious Kickstarter to bring back Shenmue in an all-new instalment has finished, raking in what would be, by any other measure, an amazing amount of money. Over $6.3 million was raised, narrowly beating other major Kickstarter videogame projects.

But it’s that definition of ‘narrowly’ that I’m sure will have some studio executives worried. The money was raised by just 70,000 people, which for a AAA game would be regarded as a huge failure if no more copies were sold. Also, Shenmue is one of the most beloved and requested videogame franchises of all time, or so the fans would say. So the fact that they didn’t come out of the woodwork in droves, as predicted, must be a real worry.

More worrying again is the fact that the game has several important stretch goals left locked, and the full studio funding was apparently only going to be provided once a cool $10m was raised. So, with many planned features that will now stay locked, and a lack of real numbers behind the project (despite the fact the game was announced at E3, something most Kickstarters can only dream of) means that I have some serious concerns as to whether the Shenmue 3 that fans actually want will ever see the light of day.

So, what are your thoughts? Are you excited that Shenmue 3 is the most funded crowdsourced game of all time, or worried that it won’t and can’t live up to expectations?

Editor - Reviewer GamerKnights

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