Kickstarter Project Update #103: A message from Ys Net, Epic Games & Deep Silver

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“Either give us what we want or let the series die a very sad death.”

Makes me sad/gutted to see comments like this on Kickstarter tbh. ?

To me, it reeks of absolute immaturity. There's a way to express concern or anger in a manner that's mature (and rational.) Saying or writing things like this is unacceptable. I also question whether there's more going on with them mentally.
 
Looking back at the Metro Exodus controversy, they still fulfilled all Steam pre-sales on the platform despite the Epic exclusivity. I know it's slightly different as no proper pre-sales have been made in this case, but I don't think it would be entirely impossible for keys to be distributed.

Only speculating, of course, but this would be the best case scenario for all involved.
We have to wait and see. The coming weeks will be critical in this. If they do honour steam backers then this will be largely forgotten.
 
We have to wait and see. The coming weeks will be critical in this. If they do honour steam backers then this will be largely forgotten.
Agreed, this is the only way to truly regain it's footing from a PR perspective, in my opinion. Offering the keys a year down the line would fulfill their obligation to deliver what was proposed, but I don't think that would do an awful lot to keep criticism at bay.
 
Agreed, this is the only way to truly regain it's footing from a PR perspective, in my opinion. Offering the keys a year down the line would fulfill their obligation to deliver what was proposed, but I don't think that would do an awful lot to keep criticism at bay.
If I were them it's one of 2 options for me.
1. Steam and epic Keys with all extras day 1.

2. Epic key day 1, Steam key 1 year on with all extras.

I don't think they will go down the refund route. They might do but we shall see.
 
Solution: Deep Silver works out a deal with EGS to honour Kickstarter backers with Steam keys on November 19th.

This won't please everyone, which is completely understandable, but it will at least rectify the primary issue held by those who made the game possible. PC sales will take a massive hit as a result of the EGS exclusivity and disregard felt by the public, but that is on the heads of Ys Net and Deep Silver.
 
if they give PC backers a Epic key on the release day and a free Steam key one year later,
you will still get the "but i paid for a Steam key on release day!" comments.
 
Forgive me if this has been said repeatedly, but just in case it hasn't:

Steam was never mentioned during the Kickstarter or Slacker Backer campaigns. I'm not going off memory; I've checked, and anyone can easily do the same (but countless out there haven't and won't).

The first reference to Steam came in a June 2018 update announcing the backer surveys, listing the Steam client among PC requirements that were explicitly subject to change during development.

The labelling of version options in the survey itself did overtly specify Steam, though by this point most if not all users would have already donated without anything resembling a promise of this sort.

I say most if not all, because I have no way of checking now what the wording was in the upgrades/add-ons process, which may or may not have labelled the PC rewards as being Steam-based before the point of donation.

If it did, then people who added or upgraded to a PC reward during the backer survey period may have a claim to that promise being broken. But they will be a slim minority at most, and unlikely to include everyone currently claiming they were "scammed."

Also lost in the uproar is the fact that Steam pre-orders never opened. Yes, for months now it's been formally advertised that the game was definitely coming to Steam on release, and that is justified cause for disappointment, even frustration. But again, not for refunds or lawsuits.

Kickstarter is knocking back any reports it receives because no campaign promises have been broken. People can be upset that it's not coming to their preferred launcher, and if they added/upgraded during the backer survey they might have cause to demand a refund, but the vast majority have no grounds on which to claim compensation. They're not getting what they want, and that's not good, but for most or even all, the terms of their financial contribution did not promise or even hint that it would be on Steam.
 
Literally one of the first comments I see underneath is someone peddling the “you stole our money” line.

Fuck this is maddening! Truly fucking maddening at this point! Fuck this whole drama has become so god damn ridiculously retarded.

It’s almost like the words “subject to change” doesn’t mean anything to people. If you’re rationally upset about it then fine, but some of these people and their “Yu stole our money” lines are just infuriating. Truly infuriating at this point.

Just give them the Steam keys to shut them up at this point because it’s getting really tiring to hear these stupid bullshit lines.
I am not angry at Ys Net, but Deep Silver sold us out. Someone should get fired from Deep silver or better yet I hope future games deep silver has No involvement with Shenmue and they get another company or even Sega to publish the game.
They already knew what happened with the other games they did this and still went ahead and ignore the market and damaged the reputation of Shenmue and gave it a bad press after we all worked so hard for years.... That is unforgivable.
I don't mind Steam keys but I want to have my "in-game" backers rewards on my preferred platform. Especially one they publicized to be in Steam for years now and in the last survey. Deep Silver sold us out.
 
Yu Suzuki could hand deliver the games himself and order a year's supply of pizza for each backer affected and those neckbeards will still be complaining.
That is so true. You can't satisfy people. They want to be outraged, so they're outraged. And they'll stay that way.
 
I am not angry at Ys Net, but Deep Silver sold us out. Someone should get fired from Deep silver or better yet I hope future games deep silver has No involvement with Shenmue and they get another company or even Sega to publish the game.
They already knew what happened with the other games they did this and still went ahead and ignore the market and damaged the reputation of Shenmue and gave it a bad press after we all worked so hard for years.... That is unforgivable.
I don't mind Steam keys but I want to have my "in-game" backers rewards on my preferred platform. Especially one they publicized to be in Steam for years now and in the last survey. Deep Silver sold us out.


yeah, let's punish the only publisher who was interested in Shenmue 3.
the publisher who was okay with delays to polish the game even more.

Shenmue 3 would be so much better without Deep Silver.
released in 2018 with the graphics quality of the first trailer, with 20 NPCs per region,
no second studio for creating characters, a smaller game world and no extra time for polishing.
sounds awesome right?
i can see the positive reactions right in front of me. oh everything would be so much better without Deep Silver.
 
If you saw the movie Event Horizon, the place where the ship goes, 'the dark behind the stars', that's the place we access when we go to Kickstarter comments.
Ah, that makes sense. I was wondering why I've been getting a weird Warhammer 40,000 vibe everytime I post on the Kickstarter comments. The light of reason truly does not shine upon that place. There is no peace amongst the stars backers, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.
 
yeah, let's punish the only publisher who was interested in Shenmue 3.
the publisher who was okay with delays to polish the game even more.

Shenmue 3 would be so much better without Deep Silver.
released in 2018 with the graphics quality of the first trailer, with 20 NPCs per region,
no second studio for creating characters, a smaller game world and no extra time for polishing.
sounds awesome right?
i can see the positive reactions right in front of me. oh everything would be so much better without Deep Silver.
Yes punish them for giving Shenmue a Bad rep, reduce PC sales. This is basically the same crap that happened when Shenmue was sold to Xbox and failed badly. They will not blame Epic but the game again.
Another publisher could have done superior work and no We don't own them Shenmue III. Shenmue happened because of us.
 
I liked this reply on kickstarter has some great questions that I wonder if it true.


Please address the following questions in the next update:



- Steam keys for digital backers - we were led to believe we would be getting them right up until several days ago, will we get Steam keys at any point?

- Physical discs for the PC version - Deep Silver say it's just a code in a box now but that's not what was advertised during the campaign, will this be rectified?

- Backer-exclusive $80+ "international phone card (in-game item)" DLC - on PC will us backers ever get our DLC on our preferred platform (Steam)? Many paid extra specifically for it and it's said to be truly exclusive to this campaign, it would be quite the insult to PC backers if it were only available on the Epic Games Store.

- The Season Pass that appeared on the PlayStation Store - are we backers not getting the full game no matter how much we paid? We paid four years ago, many of us paid a lot of money and some even pledged as much as $10,000, why should we backers get less of the game's content than people who pay $74.99 today?

- The Season Pass - does it mean physical backer copies won't contain all of the game's content? I backed several times, each for Collector's Editions, will none of these have the full game on the discs (or "codes in boxes")?

- The Season Pass - will it contain story content? When will this content be released?

- The Season Pass - why the lack of transparency regarding it? Why has it not been mentioned in our Kickstarter updates?

- Backer-exclusive $100+ "trial version" - are we getting this at all? Many people paid extra specifically for it.

- How come non-backers get to try the E3 demo while we backers who contributed $7,000,000 don't even have our trial versions four years into development? The Description for the $100+ pledge tier's trial version: "Be the first anywhere to play Shenmue 3."
 
I want to believe this is genuine. YsNet is really, really working hard to give us the game we truly wanted. So is Yu--if they needed the money, so be it..but be up front.

This is all in Deep Silvers court. They signed the deal. I personally believe there is a deeper thing here--they are numerous examples of them offering Steam copies.

My boss has an adage that he uses often and it rings true. Perception is reality. If customers perceive they were promised Steam keys, that's the reality of it. It should be honored or refunds should be given.

I think DS realized the hot water and also realized, should some legal action be taken, they could be in danger somehow. Let's see what they do.
 
“Either give us what we want or let the series die a very sad death.”

Makes me sad/gutted to see comments like this on Kickstarter tbh. ?

I'm sorry, but the self-importance is too much. It may very well could die, but it'll be because the Console version fell flat, not because a % of PC userbase left(At the expense of underestimating the power of mob/word of mouth and it becoming a "meme" to hate on the game)
 
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