Kickstarter is the only way

S

stillsense

Joined
Oct 31, 2019
Yu Suzuki only has one option to complete the Shenmue series and that is to rely on crowdfunding again, one where he is able to secure funds to complete the entire series in the 1 or 2 more games he desires. There's less possibility of a publisher or major companies like Sony coming in to help fund the game than was the case with Shenmue 3 because I feel like the excitement for a new game is relatively low and nobody wants to invest into something niche and not profitable. Shenmue 3 was infamous. Shenmue 4 will never be held in the same regard.

Crowdfunding works for niche games like Shenmue and this time he may be able to put focus on story development and the grand finale instead of making the mistake he did with 3.

If you look at the possibilities, there is only one. Create a Kickstarter again and see if there's still enough support, otherwise it will either never happen and if you look at how divided the fanbase already is Shenmue will just vanish into complete obscurity.
 
In my opinion another kickstarter is not going to workout very well due to how Shenmue 3's kickstarter was handled and all the controversy sorrouding the Epic games exclusivity deal.
The hardcore fans like myself would definitely support another kickstarter but I doubt it would raise enough money to create another game with the type of budget that a Shenmue game needs.
If Shenmue 4 is not in development and if Yu Suzuky needs funding; then I believe our best chance is either with Sony or with Epic or even both of them together.
Even if Shenmue 3 doesn't make that much of a profit, it's always a series that gets the gaming industry talking.
Nowdays the console and pc wars are won with exclusive titles and securing a title like Shenmue means securing a loyal and thankfull fanbase that will difinitely support that brand by buying their hardware and their games on the long run; wich means more profit for that company for many years.
At least i'm one of those cases. Last year I bought a PS4; a phisycal and digital copy of Shenmue 3 with all the Dlc's; I also bought other games and I've even buyed a Ps plus subscription for an entire year.
So in my case alone Sony as profited much more for supporting Shemmue and I sincerly believe I'm not the only one for sure.
 
I know Cedric isn't the man in charge of the franchise or YSNET but he commented way back in March that Kickstarter isn't an option now.

That doesn't mean YSNET wouldn't try it of course.

On 26th March Cedric did a live Q&A and commented on that. Here's the Dojo summery:
The video can be found here
 
Have to agree that Kickstarter seems to be the only way to get some more money for the game. I cannot see any big investator that is willing to fund S4 at this point.

In order to make S4 more attractive it even Needs more money than the last Kickstarter. I do not think that KS alone can generate that Revenue. It even would be a Miracle if the new KS would generate as much money as the S4.

That is not gonna Happening. But with some start money some Investor might be interested i helping out. But no Investor would fund S4 from Zero.

The game is not big enough to do that.
 
Going for a second Kickstarter is never a good option and it is more like Inafune's ways. Even if Shenmue III was a perfect 10 the hype level for a 4th entry will never match the hype for the 3rd one, there is no 15 year gap yet, there is no "Sega's swan song in the console market" kind of nostalgia feeling attached to Shenmue III that IV can not replicate. There will not be another "omg E3 moment", so the only way to fund Shenmue IV is from Shenmue III profits and external invests.

If a new KS surfaces I will not pay as much money as for S3 for sure, and I really love Shenmue III, but once something has been "kick started" is the developers way mission to make money with the product to continue creating games.
 
I suggest they first secure basic funding to be able to make the game. Once they have something quite polished to present, increase the budget with a kickstarter like other games have done it. Offer modest priced tiers like digital copy, name in credits, physical copy, art book, soundtrack, your message/picture/artwork/modeled object in the game (which does not break immersion)

This would be perfect for me. I'm willing to pledge the same or even more than I did for III
 
i think they messed up the s3 kickstarter campaign. i imagine a lot of people who pledged money last time wouldn't do it again.

just small stuff like sending out some of the ks rewards out early to make up for the fact the game was gonna get delayed, would of gone a far way in showing to the average fan/backer that they were respected.
 
Too bad, loved to be a part of it despite all the drama from others. Maybe secure basic funding and once you can present a product do kickstarter with additional stretch goals (like other games have done it)?
 
Ryo2040 said:
Too bad, loved to be a part of it despite all the drama from others. Maybe secure basic funding and once you can present a product do kickstarter with additional stretch goals (like other games have done it)?
Click to expand...
There was one fairly recently that did. Can anyone remember the name of it/other examples of this?

I'd like to do a quick bit of research into them.
 
Kickstarter isn't needed. Yu can secure funds from other partners from what he's said in the past, if the Deep Silver/Epic partnership were to end/has ended.

That said, I'd be up for a Paypal fund raiser so fans can chip in again. Kinda like how we got the slacker-backer, but instead of offering rewards this time, make sure all money donated goes straight toward development costs.
 
stillsense said:
Yu Suzuki only has one option to complete the Shenmue series and that is to rely on crowdfunding again, one where he is able to secure funds to complete the entire series in the 1 or 2 more games he desires. There's less possibility of a publisher or major companies like Sony coming in to help fund the game than was the case with Shenmue 3 because I feel like the excitement for a new game is relatively low and nobody wants to invest into something niche and not profitable. Shenmue 3 was infamous. Shenmue 4 will never be held in the same regard.

Crowdfunding works for niche games like Shenmue and this time he may be able to put focus on story development and the grand finale instead of making the mistake he did with 3.

If you look at the possibilities, there is only one. Create a Kickstarter again and see if there's still enough support, otherwise it will either never happen and if you look at how divided the fanbase already is Shenmue will just vanish into complete obscurity.
Click to expand...

So many certainties...

Everything is possible. We don't know what goes on behind the scenes.

And even if Shenmue III is divise amongst the fans, does it mean the series as a whole is not worth supporting Yu Suzuki to get the rest of the story anymore?
 
I think it can be done without Kickstarter, as there is probably enough interest to secure funding for a fourth entry from many sources.

Sega didn't financially throw themselves into the hat for Shenmue III because they didn't know there would be a success there. Once the game skyrocketed in funding and the HD editions were released and sold fairly well, they may be more inclined to help a bit now.

Engine and development team is already present, two major factors in game making. Unreal Engine 5 presents another big opportunity. I still anticipate Shenmue IV, but I don't think we will hear anything about it until 2021.
 
spud1897 said:
There was one fairly recently that did. Can anyone remember the name of it/other examples of this?

I'd like to do a quick bit of research into them.
Click to expand...

I know of the end of the sun and Firmament which I backed. Also Dinosaur Fossil Hunter. Apart from Firmament with over 1.4 million raised smaller scaled projects financially than Shenmue.
 
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A new Kickstarter would be lucky to break $1 million after the burnout from the last Kickstarter, current lack of interest from gamers in Kickstarter generally, and like someone else said, Shenmue 3 not being a game that went 20 years without a sequel. The hype just wouldn't be there.
 
Ryo2040 said:
I know of the end of the sun and Firmament which I backed. Also Dinosaur Fossil Hunter. Apart from Firmament with over 1.4 million raised smaller scaled projects financially than Shenmue.
Click to expand...
Cheers for that. The one I was after (after a bit of searching was Wonderful 101) which went to Kickstarter earlier this year.

They had a virtually finished game (though it's since been delayed) that went to Kickstarter with a tiny goal $50k and ended in the million dollar bracket. Now this ended up funding some new bits and pieces but this game had a distributor, publlisher etc and was 2 months off release. The press didn't jump on it for being shady.

Now if Shenmue IV did this (say 3-6 months from release) I'd bet that the press would consider it shady practice, even if in principle it was for the same thing. Now given the crap that happened during and after the kickstarter I can understand some apathy. But should Shenmue go down this route it will get battered by the mainstream media, yet another game has done the same and not been battered. For me that would be double standards.

For the record I don't think Shenmue IV will end up on kickstarter in this or another form.
 
Kickstarter is definetly not a wise move. Im sure cedric said something similar before.

To be brutally honest and i say this as a hardcore shenmue fan, the shenmue 3 kickstarter was a complete mess as were most of the rewards, tiers, communication etc (we still have some rewards to go but they look half a$$ed to put it politely.) Some of them were nice though like the statues. If im thinking like that, i can only imagine what the general public must be thinking.

If they ever went the kickstarter route again, i think they'd be setting themselves up for embarrassment. They'd get torn apart from every angle.

Fortunately, we're in a much better place now. We have a team in place, and the technology and assets already built. Thats a much better position to be in than having nothing and starting from scratch. Its a much more attractive prospect aswell for a publisher
 
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