Shenmue 3 may have broken the record for the fastest time to fulfill its target goal, but creator Yu Suzuki has bigger plans that that mere $2million. To fulfill his big vision for the game, he wants $10million to be raked in by Kickstarter.
The Shenmue 3 story has been unravelling since its surprise reveal at Sony’s E3 event, with news that the Kickstarter isn’t the only form of income the project will receive. That’s almost no surprise; considering Shenmue 1 cost $45million+ to make back in the day, even a $10million budget would be difficult to work with.
What do players get if they help Suzuki hit that $10million goal though? Well thanks to a Reddit AMA the creator held, we have a small idea.
“I will say this: if we reach the $5 million mark, one of the things I really want to do with Shenmue 3 will become a reality,” he said. “At $10 million, it will truly have the features of an open world.”
The $5million goals detail expanded locations, new systems, and mini-games. The $10million stretch goals are currently unannounced, but the AMA revealed that the extra cash would be used to put more side-activities into the game.
“There will be part time jobs that will be indicative of those you would find in China. In the stretch goals there will also be the old favorites,” Suzuki said, indicating that the oddly popular Shemnue activity of driving forklifts could be making a return.
Breaking $10million is a huge ask, and something a game project has never done. Only three projects have managed it in Kickstarter history (two Pebble watches and a food cooler), but if Shenmue 3’s momentum is anything to go by it could potentially pass the likes of Torment: Tides of Numenera and Bloodstained to become the biggest game funded by the service.
Should the game only raise the $2million goal, Shenmue 3 will be more of a story experience than a fully playable open-world game, said Suzuki in an interview translated by fans over at NeoGAF.
Thanks, VG247.