Shenmue III sales flopped

ROMhack said:
Shenmue and Yakuza aren't that similar. Shenmue is a life simulator, whereas Yakuza is more of an action game.
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This statement is even more true if you compare Shenmue 3 to Yakuza 7. The third Shenmue is less action, all about chinese ancestral culture. It's a serious title.Yakuza 7 is crazier, funnier, wider than ever with RPG battles.

Now, they are "extremely" different game experiences.
Yakuza-7-cinema-minigame.png


Not very Shenmue 3 ;)
 
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I'm like the mythical new fan who got into the Shenmue series because of Shenmue 3. It's a pretty different type of open world game, and has a certain charm to it....I like that it's gameplay ethos and other design choices seem straight out of another era. Thanks to the game, I actually have a reason to use my PS4 again.
 
Dane said:
Wasn't Shenmue originally planned to have 5 games?
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Originally yes but when your game is 20 years in hibernation and are at the age of 60+ yrs old , be realistic. You wont get twice kickstarter funding. Guy could of scale back the story or remove unnecessary random sections that are there just for fun.
 
Shenmue 1 was a bad game but was the closest thing we had to a 3d grand theft auto until #3 came out.
Shenmue 2 was just behind the times.
Shenmue 3 they want the nostalgia of 1 and 2 to sell this game but there wasn't much to begin with.
 
no shit, if people wanted a 3rd one there wouldnt have been a kickstarter for it

at least it got made so we can stop hearing about it or whatever
 
Well deserved bomba, dont promise steam keys on kickstarter then act all shocked when people are pissed after selling out to egs
 
I really liked the game. However there are 3 big problems for me. IMO Sega publishing a sequel would fix these issues immediately:

1. Localization. this localization is bad, please let Atlus localization team take over
2. The combat is not as good as it should be. Let Yu make Virtua Fighter 6 and implement the fighting system in a sequel. Virtua Fighter is more popular than ever. You have the VF fans that have been waiting it for years and now you also have the Yakuza fans that were exposed to it within the Yakuza games.
3. The story. Sega cant help with this but Yu can push the pace more in a sequel.
 
Not sure why anybody os defending this game. I'm not a Shenmue-fan, but if Sega finally made Skies of Arcadia 2 and it turned out shit, I wouldn't defend that game.
 
Kev Kev said:
Welp... TLG was pretty successful I suppose, Shenmue bombed... all we have left is for FFVIIR to bring it home... then maybe all that E3 2015 hype won't seem so ridiculous 😂
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Good thing that Shenmue fans seem to be happy about what they got and they can be happy about that eh ;)? How hard have you been praying the E3 2015 hype did not help Sony mega win yet another console generation :)?
 
I'm tired of people bitching about the PC version. You're lucky there was a PC version in the first fucking place. It should have been PS4 exclusive and then there wouldn't have been so many whiny assholes going on about the Epic Games Store. I LOVED Shenmue 1 and 2 as they are two of my favorite games of all time and I love Shenmue 3 just as much. It delivered what I wanted in a Shenmue 3, and if you are disappointed in it, then maybe you were expecting something completely different. I wanted more of the same and I got it. Shenmue is Shenmue. If you didn't like it 20 years ago then you're not going to like it now. I supported the Kickstarter with $250 of my money, bought the Collector's Edition, and the Steelbook too. I wanted everything I could get. I am celebrating this game because it means so much to me. It's bullshit to come on here and hear all of the complaining about the game being a super fan of the series. It doesn't matter what game comes out or how great it is, there's always a bunch of people ready and willing to sit back and bitch and moan and trash it. The internet has become a breeding ground for negativity no matter what project it is, be it a game, movie, or whatever.
 
So Shenmue will be a eternal saga.

will wait another 15 years to other game and will be a failure

This saga should finish soon at least the last game.
 
Fat Frog said:
This statement is even more true if you compare Shenmue 3 to Yakuza 7. The third Shenmue is less action, all about chinese ancestral culture. It's a serious title.Yakuza 7 is crazier, funnier, wider than ever with RPG battles.

Now, they are "extremely" different game experiences.
Yakuza-7-cinema-minigame.png


Not very Shenmue 3 ;)
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This new Miku game looks pretty good.
 
Bushido Boi said:
I'm tired of people bitching about the PC version. You're lucky there was a PC version in the first fucking place. It should have been PS4 exclusive and then there wouldn't have been so many whiny assholes going on about the Epic Games Store. I LOVED Shenmue 1 and 2 as they are two of my favorite games of all time and I love Shenmue 3 just as much. It delivered what I wanted in a Shenmue 3, and if you are disappointed in it, then maybe you were expecting something completely different. I wanted more of the same and I got it. Shenmue is Shenmue. If you didn't like it 20 years ago then you're not going to like it now. I supported the Kickstarter with $250 of my money, bought the Collector's Edition, and the Steelbook too. I wanted everything I could get. I am celebrating this game because it means so much to me. It's bullshit to come on here and hear all of the complaining about the game being a super fan of the series. It doesn't matter what game comes out or how great it is, there's always a bunch of people ready and willing to sit back and bitch and moan and trash it. The internet has become a breeding ground for negativity no matter what project it is, be it a game, movie, or whatever.
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🤔 Why are you mad nigga?
 
Not a Shenmue fan and know nothing about the game, but why do people want this to fail? Seems it had a fanbase and they were able to fund a sequel to a series they liked. I think that's a great thing.

I funded Yooka Laylee and even though that one didn't turn out how I wanted, I never felt bad for donating to keep that type of genre alive.
 
Can it really be a failure if it met it's kick starter goals meaning it got the money it wanted ( + EGS $), I know the whole epic store thing really Ticked alot of people off but it sounds to me like their sales expectations were meant.

This wasn't a game meant for the masses that was clear from the very get-go, this was a game made for a small niche of fans who love the 1st 2 and thus would fund it to see the story/characters continue
 
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LMJ said:
Can it really be a failure if it met it's kick starter goals meaning it got the money it wanted ( + EGS $), I know the whole epic store thing really Ticked alot of people off but it sounds to me like their sales expectations were meant.

This wasn't a game meant for the masses that was clear from the very get-go, this was a game made for a small niche of fans who love the 1st 2 and thus would fund it to see the story/characters continue
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KS was clearly not enough, Sony and Epic deals had to be negotiated on top to get to the finish line, at least in the state they did.

Also, a studio tends to want to make profit on a game, not just break even for the dev time. Or is the plan to dissolve the studio upon release because who's gonna fund the next game now (next Shenmue or next anything they make) and how long's that going to take to get to the market?

Though, everyone pretending bad sales = bad quality = shenmue was always bad is (being) dumb, or do they also feel the latest Pokemon is among the greatest games and Wii is the best console ever released and the current top 10 in the charts the most wonderful music, etc.?

I liked Wii, just saying, I know the kind of troll hater (as below) that makes up such arguments often didn't so it's ridiculous to then correlate sales with quality on any level when it suits them and not do that when it doesn't, that's just juvenile trolling.

And I'm not defending Shenmue III, just pointing out the non-arguments done in an attempt to turn reality inside out to suit their needs. I stand by what I originally said on that front.
Al3x1s said:
And yet it's consistently been in the top 3 sellers on EGS so imagine how everything else is doing, lol. Some people took Epic's money with no regard for anything else in return for nobody actually playing the games to build a fanbase and demand for whatever they do next and it seems it wasn't even much money given how eager some of them are to get on Steam and try to drum up attention and make events out of it months prior. Hopefully the better stuff and the stuff that got there against the will of devs due to their publishers will do well as some do deserve to be played. Shenmue & II boxed DC copies (pal) are among the few stuff I've kept physical but I don't even care about Shenmue III any more, with this development they're not likely to ever finish the saga after all and only have themselves to blame. I liked what I saw of the game as unlike others I never expected a new Shenmue to be pioneering like the previous games were or some grand AAA open world shit, just be what they were in practice, small scale intimate adventure games with an interesting story of revenge and how that would twist and develop. But as a fan I'm not a commodity to be sold to EGS and have no more sympathy for Yu than he has for me. I wish none of this came to pass but it seems most likely given the apparent flop.
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Bushido Boi said:
I'm tired of people bitching about the PC version. You're lucky there was a PC version in the first fucking place. It should have been PS4 exclusive and then there wouldn't have been so many whiny assholes going on about the Epic Games Store. I LOVED Shenmue 1 and 2 as they are two of my favorite games of all time and I love Shenmue 3 just as much. It delivered what I wanted in a Shenmue 3, and if you are disappointed in it, then maybe you were expecting something completely different. I wanted more of the same and I got it. Shenmue is Shenmue. If you didn't like it 20 years ago then you're not going to like it now. I supported the Kickstarter with $250 of my money, bought the Collector's Edition, and the Steelbook too. I wanted everything I could get. I am celebrating this game because it means so much to me. It's bullshit to come on here and hear all of the complaining about the game being a super fan of the series. It doesn't matter what game comes out or how great it is, there's always a bunch of people ready and willing to sit back and bitch and moan and trash it. The internet has become a breeding ground for negativity no matter what project it is, be it a game, movie, or whatever.
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It's hard to admit you flushed $250 down the toilet.
 
It will probably kickstart again. This time there's a game engine with assets and the plot is going to stick to late 1980s Asia so a lot of work won't be needed next time. All assuming Yu wants to do it.
 
waylo said:
I cannot stand these dudes. So incredibly over the top and corny.

I'M ABSOLUTELY CRYING OVER HERE

Get ahold of yourself.
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God forbid fans of something celebrate after thinking the franchise was dead and never seeing a continuation.

Maybe you should take your own advice, mate.

teh_pwn said:
It will probably kickstart again. This time there's a game engine with assets and the plot is going to stick to late 1980s Asia so a lot of work won't be needed next time. All assuming Yu wants to do it.
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I would be very surprised if Yu suddenly *didn't* want to do it. He has been trying to finish this franchise for decades now.

SegaShack said:
Not a Shenmue fan and know nothing about the game, but why do people want this to fail? Seems it had a fanbase and they were able to fund a sequel to a series they liked. I think that's a great thing.

I funded Yooka Laylee and even though that one didn't turn out how I wanted, I never felt bad for donating to keep that type of genre alive.
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Trolls, mostly. Either people taking the piss or platform/console warriors who want to feel validated for their hate of the platform with a game they perceived as a failure.
 
We all praise the Dreamcast but it flopped and Sega went out of the hardware business. Same fate for the Shenmue series I am afraid.
 
Wow a niche game bombed. Was anyone expecting it to do well?

If the 2019 average gamer tried to play this game, they'd have an aneurysm. The game is a slow-placed, trogg, through 1980's Asia while trying to investigate small things in order to figure out a mystery. Not mention they made the game as closely to the original games as they could while still adding new elements to try to keep it a bit fresh. It was doomed to bomb.

That said, I've been playing a lot more recently and I adore it. It's exactly what I wanted and then some. But, anyone who hated the original games / younger kids who play today won't like this game and it apparently shows.
 
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Thabass said:
Wow a niche game bombed. Was anyone expecting it to do well?

If the 2019 average gamer tried to play this game, they'd have an aneurysm. The game is a slow-placed, trogg, through 1980's Asia while trying to investigate small things in order to figure out a mystery. Not mention they made the game as closely to the original games as they could while still adding new elements to try to keep it a bit fresh. It was doomed to bomb.

That said, I've been playing a lot more recently and I adore it. It's exactly what I wanted and then some. But, anyone who hated the original games / younger kids who play today won't like this game and it apparently shows.
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A $25 launch price and some actual advertising could have made a difference. Sony, Deep Silver, Epic and SEGA all contributed to it failing badly (if we say the verdict is in.) You can't sell a game if no one knows it's out. I've been trying to follow it and I was even surprised when I saw it in a store. You also can't sell what should be a budget game for $60.
 
Rest Rest , how did SEGA contribute to this game coming up short in sales? They had no involvement with it besides giving Yu Suzuki the rights to use the IP itself.

If it's about the Shenmue 1 and 2 remasters, implying they should've gone with the cancelled remakes instead, well there's maybe room for that there, but what's the implication if they did? That they should've let Suzuki use the remake engine? He was lucky enough to get permission for using the IP in all honesty.

Deep Silver and Epic would be the biggest reasons to any lower-than-expected sales, especially on PC. Sony a further ways after them, for the additional funding perhaps. AFAIK, SEGA didn't have any formal involvement with this game.
 
Anyone that wanted to play this trashbag of a game kickstarted it. No one else wants to play a game with terrible story, mechanics, graphics, voice acting, and level design.
 
thicc_girls_are_teh_best said:
Rest Rest , how did SEGA contribute to this game coming up short in sales? They had no involvement with it besides giving Yu Suzuki the rights to use the IP itself.

If it's about the Shenmue 1 and 2 remasters, implying they should've gone with the cancelled remakes instead, well there's maybe room for that there, but what's the implication if they did? That they should've let Suzuki use the remake engine? He was lucky enough to get permission for using the IP in all honesty.

Deep Silver and Epic would be the biggest reasons to any lower-than-expected sales, especially on PC. Sony a further ways after them, for the additional funding perhaps. AFAIK, SEGA didn't have any formal involvement with this game.
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SEGA's part is just as you said, taking a licensing check and doing nothing. If the owner of the property won't support a sequel to a former flagship title, what message does that send?
 
Rest said:
SEGA's part is just as you said, taking a licensing check and doing nothing. If the owner of the property won't support a sequel to a former flagship title, what message does that send?
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sega actually did the smart thing by staying as far away from yu suzuki's con as possible. Hell even playstation distanced themselves from his bullshit and they're the ones who initially announced the kickstarter for it.
 
The first 2 Shenmue games flopped. Why did anyone think a sequel nearly 2 decades later would fare any better? Every time I see people put this game in the same breath as Half-Life 3 I roll my eyes. There was about as much demand for Shenmue 3 as there was for Rage 2.
 
ChadDaddyWarden said:
The first 2 Shenmue games flopped. Why did anyone think a sequel nearly 2 decades later would fare any better? Every time I see people put this game in the same breath as Half-Life 3 I roll my eyes. There was about as much demand for Shenmue 3 as there was for Rage 2.
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Flopped? Selling over 1 million copies back in 2000 is a flop? Please, do everyone a favour and stop typing bollocks that people have to sift through. You could say SEGA didn't make back financially what they put into the game but that's not what a flop is. Shenmue 3 is a flop.

Chytin said:
We all praise the Dreamcast but it flopped and Sega went out of the hardware business. Same fate for the Shenmue series I am afraid.
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Do you people know what a flop is or are you just retarded? Again, the Dreamcast wasn't a flop. It was doing ok. SEGA ran out of money and had to pull out of the hardware business, it's a simple as that. You people are hurting my brain.
 
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Rest said:
SEGA's part is just as you said, taking a licensing check and doing nothing. If the owner of the property won't support a sequel to a former flagship title, what message does that send?
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Considering the heavily niche nature of the series and the fact they already have a spiritual successor they've been building up for years and taking templates set by Shenmue in different directions that are seemingly more of what they wanted (Yakuza), why would SEGA be obligated to do any more than they did?

What they've done with Shenmue 3 isn't much different than what they did with Sonic Mania and are doing with Streets of Rage 4; grant other devs the rights to the license, maybe provide some assistance here and there (IIRC Sonic Team offered some help with Mania), and let the dev work their stuff. It's not SEGA's fault the game has whatever issues it has and ended up in a hailstorm of bad publicity 🤷‍♂️
 
The game came out of the game mostly paid for. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Also, it bears saying, niche SEGA games have this weird habit of doing rather well on STEAM for years on end. I wouldn't be surprised if it racked up a couple thousand more units over there next year.
 
lame gag1990 said:
Flopped? Selling over 1 million copies back in 2000 is a flop? Please, do everyone a favour and stop typing bollocks that people have to sift through. You could say SEGA didn't make back financially what they put into the game but that's not what a flop is. Shenmue 3 is a flop.



Do you people know what a flop is or are you just retarded? Again, the Dreamcast wasn't a flop. It was doing ok. SEGA ran out of money and had to pull out of the hardware business, it's a simple as that. You people are hurting my brain.
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Dude, relax or consult a doctor. I am sure there are medicines for whatever you have.
Dreamcast sold less than 10 millions. Wii U, widely considered as a flop, sold around 14 millions.
I loved the Dreamcast, played Shenmue, Soul Calibur, Blue Stinger and Skies of Arcadia to death but switched to the other console people actually were buying. You might have heard of it, it was called Playstation 2.
 
Chytin said:
Dude, relax or consult a doctor. I am sure there are medicines for whatever you have.
Dreamcast sold less than 10 millions. Wii U, widely considered as a flop, sold around 14 millions.
I loved the Dreamcast, played Shenmue, Soul Calibur, Blue Stinger and Skies of Arcadia to death but switched to the other console people actually were buying. You might have heard of it, it was called Playstation 2.
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Comparing the Dreamcast to the WiiU? Nintendo pulled out on the WiiU because it was a flop. Sega pulled out on the Dreamcast because they literally had no money left. It wasn't the Dreamcast flopping. It's pretty simple to understand really. Why are you glossing over that fact?
 
This is one of those games where everybody says they want it so they can look cool on the internet to complete strangers. Talking about the originals and the dreamcast as if it earns you some faux street cred. So it finally happens and no one really buys because no one actually wanted it. It's like anything a few hardcore fans can make something seem bigger than it is.

I'm still glad it got made though. But really their best bet is to do a dreamcast mini and give us the old games that way or a compilation disc. People want the nostalgia of playing the old games but I dont think they want new games in the style and feel of the old games.
 
they made a dreamcast game in 2019 what did u expect. that was the scope since day 1. this is exactly like mighty no 9, he was making mega man 1 again in a new engine no 30 years of quality of life improvements. yooka laylee could fall into this too they made a n64 banjo game with out 3d platformer improvements over the decades.
 
Gargus said:
This is one of those games where everybody says they want it so they can look cool on the internet to complete strangers. Talking about the originals and the dreamcast as if it earns you some faux street cred. So it finally happens and no one really buys because no one actually wanted it. It's like anything a few hardcore fans can make something seem bigger than it is.

I'm still glad it got made though. But really their best bet is to do a dreamcast mini and give us the old games that way or a compilation disc. People want the nostalgia of playing the old games but I dont think they want new games in the style and feel of the old games.
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It wasn't even the hardcore fans blowing this up, it was all the fake ass people stanning for something they didn't even know about. They just heard about it, never played it, had no relationship with it but knew it was a big deal back in the day.

That pisses me off the most, I warned people (Shenmue fans) that all this hype generation and that amount of people freaking out about it wasn't genuine, it was a bunch of assholes trying to act like they were apart of something vying for attention.

I knew this would play out as it did, none of them listened.
 
DynamiteCop! said:
It wasn't even the hardcore fans blowing this up, it was all the fake ass people stanning for something they didn't even know about. They just heard about it, never played it, had no relationship with it but knew it was a big deal back in the day.

That pisses me off the most, I warned people (Shenmue fans) that all this hype generation and that amount of people freaking out about it wasn't genuine, it was a bunch of assholes trying to act like they were apart of something vying for attention.

I knew this would play out as it did, none of them listened.
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Lol do you feel important now? Pretty sure everyone who wanted this game already has it. This was never a blockbuster. It's a low budget niche title with a cult following.
 
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