Shenmue 3 shatters Kickstarter Game records ; $2 million achieved in 8 hours
- Thread starter evanmisha
- Start date
From outside investors. Gaffers seem to have a really poor understanding of what exactly money will get you when it comes to game development (hint: its much more expensive than people think). Reading the old Skullgirls kickstarter thread should be mandatory if you wanna talk about this sort of thing.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
The more I reflect on this the more I really don't like this. At least not until we get some transparency around just what Sony's involvement actually is
TheSlySoul
Member
duckroll am cry.
Seriously cool fans can come together...
MaverickHunterX
Member
At this point, I think we can safely say that Duckroll possess the 'Kiss of Life'
Any Kickstarter he pisses on turns out to be a record breaker.
Hellsing321
Member
Crazy to think we could see the all time video gaming funding record broken so soon after Bloodstained.
jhmtehgamr20xx
Banned
And yet GAF laughed at me when I said a Shenmue Kickstarter could even be possible.
Who's laughing now, GAF?
Who's laughing now, GAF?
silver.tongue
Member
Sony broke GAF, Kickstarter and E3 last night.
After the conference Sony, Playstation, Uncharted 4, Shenmue III and FFVII Remake were all trending.
After the conference Sony, Playstation, Uncharted 4, Shenmue III and FFVII Remake were all trending.
nckillthegrimace
Member
Why? Is this really that much worse than begging for preorders following an AAA, all CG reveal? Or do you not like Sony highlighting a kickstarter? And is that so much worse than picking and choosing which unfinished indie games to highlight during a press conference? We're sold nascent ideas all the time.
ISee
Member
Nobody they are all busy typing in their credit card numbers.
ReBurn
Gold Member
So many people have been saying this for so long. It's good that we get Shenmue 3 and they get to eat crow.
What does it matter? If Sony is helping to make this happen then all the better.
Can't wait to explain to the kickstarter doubters and people who think Shenmue 3 would need 80 billion dollars why they're wrong over and over for the next 2 years.
So what ? Star Sitzen was founded with 5M and now it has 50+ Millions from fans!!
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/funding-goals
Shenmue just need to let his paypal open after Kickstarter.
i'm going to take a guess that this isn't much different of an arrangement than what bloodstained's KS was.
Well I think in this precise case a lot of people do realize that 2 million is not sufficient for a game like Shenmue, hence the questions/doubts.
Didn't follow the Skullgirls thread, I'll read it !
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Its one thing to make an announcement, as a company, that you're launching a kickstarter for initial funding/interest acknowledging that you'll be getting further investment later or that you have it lined up.
Its another, I think, for the company that we think might actually be providing the additional investment to do the announcement at one of their large press events.
Bloodstained wasn't announced and promoted by one of those outside parties though
Now if Sony came out and said "no we're not funding this whatsoever" I'd be much happier
GitarooMan
Member
Not to single this out particularly, but sentiment like this is sort of strange. Like, did anyone really think that Shenmue 3 wouldn't be a successful Kickstarter? It'll probably clear 5 million without breaking a sweat and I don't think you would find many people who wouldn't have thought that beforehand. It has a very passionate fan base. Discussions about Shenmue more often revolved around whether in the current climate, a big-budget (say 50-75 million) version was feasible, and that was always (and still is) a very much open question.
Shadow Ranger
Member
Hopefully this proves to a publisher (Sony?) enough to move ahead. Grab that Yakuza team to jump into the dev team, mabybe. Move over Kazuma, Ryo's back!
Yep. Been saying that for a while now.
Along with Ysnet and Yu Suzuki himself, sponsorship is also coming from a company called Shibuya shown at the end of the trailer.
Yes, lots of people, loudly, for years now.
MADGAME
Member
Chezzymann
Member
Ah thanks, exact time would be 8 hours and 43 minutes on the dot. Still a mighty impressive number.
And for the record, the fastest kickstarters to reach a million:
I'm pretty sure Shenmue hit its million dollar target in under an hour, which may put it behind the Pebble Time on this list. Though this chart is also a little outdated as it doesn't list Bloodstained.
It hit a million in an hour and 45 minutes which makes it second fastest
SomewhatGroovy
Banned
29000 or so backers isn't much. Gamers need to step up!
JohnSpartanLee
Member
It's only running for 12 hours.
MrRoflWaffles
Member
This all happened ridiculously quickly. Mindblowing stuff.
I personally think they should disclose whether or not they have further funding, not because I care about specifics, but because on the very off chance that they don't have a deal set up people should know about that. I'm confident they have a funding partner, but it would be nice to have confirmation.
RealityCheque
Banned
Does the IP no longer belong to Sega? I'm confused. If Sony or any other publisher is funding this after the "test" on Kickstarter, how does Sega figure in all this?
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Part of the KS/pub money is being used to pay sega to use the IP. The wording makes it sound like they're not buying the IP, just licensing it.
To be fair, most probably didn't think $2 million was going to be enough to "fund" Shenmue 3. I was sure as hell expecting $15 million figure but $2 million? Sweet!
They've licensed the trademark at least.
There is no evidence for this at all. The mention of Sega giving the licence is in the FAQ, and would have be sorted before the kickstarter even began. Sponsors were listed at the end of the trailer, specifically Ysnet, Yu Suzuki and Shibuya
Sony wouldn't have given Shenmue such a big presence on stage if they weren't funding the game.
I'm pretty sure Yu Suzuki managed to get the licensing rights for either free or a non-sequential amount. Not the first time either, Mizuguchi made it seem like he obtained the licensing rights for Rez free of charge.
I'm certain playing it today for the first time would feel that way, but back then it was absolutely incredible despite the hilariously bad English voice acting
Yeah, doesn't seem like Sega is involved at the moment. Looks like they have given up the rights to create Shenmue 3 but still own the previous game properties. If it Yu Suzuki doing the negotiations Sega would of been happy to allow him to create his vision after all the amazing titles he has given Sega.
RealityCheque
Banned
OK that clears it up. It did actually cross my mind that because the KS target was low, that some if not all of it was gong towards paying off Sega.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Just because it's sorted doesn't mean it's already been paid for.
I'm waiting for my paycheck friday. Gonna throw money at them like there was no tomorrow.
No seriously i'll probably go for the 100$... maybe more.
Then it shouldn't be a big deal to mention it on the kickstarter. Adam Boyes was very clear that this isn't Sony's project. That doesn't mean they aren't funding part of it, but showing a trailer is no guarantee that they are actually involved in the project at all. I like Kickstarter a lot and don't really care how companies use it, but I do think projects should be transparent and state upfront that they have outside funding so potential backers are aware.
J
Jotamide
Unconfirmed Member
The celebration email was a bit anticlimactic.
Masquerader
Member
... So just how many fans of Shenmue are there...?