Guinness World Record

‘Shenmue 3’ Closes Out As The Highest Grossing Game In Kickstarter History

by Josh JacksonJuly 21, 2015

Shenmue 3 wrapped up its Kickstarter in spectacular fashion, closing out at $6.33 million. This total makes the continuation of Yu Suzuki’s Dreamcast epic the highest funded game in the crowdfunding website’s history. Not bad for a game many in the industry thought didn’t have a big enough audience!

Following its announcement at Sony’s E3 2015 press conference, Shenmue 3 adds this latest accolade to its growing list of accomplishments, including becoming the fastest game to reach $1 million and the second fastest project amongst all categories to do so after a mere two hours of its launch. In addition to Sony already commiting to helping fund development for the PS4 version, it seems like what seemed like nothing more than a pipe dream might hit our consoles and PC as early as December 2017.

Still, producing Shenmue might still be an uphill battle, considering that the first game was infamously in the $70 million range to develop in 1999. Considering developing a game of this nature now should be cheaper, it remains to be seen if Suzuki and his team are going to give it all the modern bells and whistles that could skyrocket the final cost.

Either way, we’re just excited that the game is finally coming. Will Ryo avenge his father and defeat Lan Di? What role will the mysterious Ling Shenhua play? Will we find any more sailors? And what’s up with that tree!? Here’s to hoping we’ll find out when the game is finally released!

E3 2015: ‘Shenmue 3’ Reaches $2 Million Goal In Less Than 9 Hours; Adds New Stretch Goals!

by Josh JacksonJune 19, 2015

During a night of shocking announcements, arguably the most surprising one of all was the sudden reveal of the long lost Shenmue 3 during Sony’s E3 press conference. Disappointingly attached to the condition that it be funded through Kickstarter, fans answered the call, leading the crowdfunding campaign to break through its $2 million goal in about nine hours, becoming the fastest video game to reach $1 million, clocking in at 1 hour and 42 minutes according to Guinness World Records. From this goal being met in record time, to someone ALREADY claiming the Ryo replica jacket and all three slots for dinner with Yu Suzuki for contributing $10,000 proves how passionate the fanbase is for this game. Or am I thinking crazy?

Either way, now that the initial goal has been met, the game has the potential to be expanded through a new set of stretch goals. Serving as what many consider the first true 3D open world title, Shenmue 3 is hoping to add three full cities to explore, a rapport system to help Ryo build relationships with the characters he meets, (sailors or otherwise,) and subtitles in multiple languages. The full list of goals is as follows, including the ones that have already been met:

Are you planning on backing this project? Is Shenmue 3 a dream come true for you, or is it too little too late? Let us know what you thought of the reveal below, and keep checking back for more E3 news, previews, and the fallout of the show in the coming days!