Shenmue III (PS4, PC)

[James]

With the level of fan support, he really should be able to get proper funding to make the game Shenmue III is supposed to be. I really don't get why this game is having to fight so hard to get made.

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

Because everyone with money knows it's not going to make any.

[Frogacuda]

It's the sequel to two financially unsuccessful games from 15 years ago. Investor caution seems reasonable in this particuar case.

[Diff-chan]

Has there been any leaks of these co-funded contracts? If $10 million would get him the game he wants, what does that translate to in total budget?

[Frogacuda]

No, it seems the agreements are confidential. Everything is speculation. There might even be a scaling investment based on KS success, or investors who have pledged support if they hit certain levels. There's no real way to know.

[Melf]

An open-world Shenmue would be awesome. I think he might reach it, depending on how much Sony is willing to help. If they make it exclusive, he could get it.

[Frogacuda]

So Suzuki said that "most" of the budget will proably be from KS. This is probably the best ballpark figure we'll get. I'd guess that means maybe 3 to 5 million in outside investment.

[BonusKun]

I wish I was interested in Shenmue like you guys are but sadly I couldn't play this game no matter how hard I tried. I'm happy some people are getting their wishes tho for the 3rd installment.

[Melf]

If he needs $10 million to make the game open-world, and if Sony is going to pony up around $4-5 milion, then it's not an unrealistic goal. The Kickstarter is already at almost $3.5 million and still has 27 days to go.

[Frogacuda]

My understanding was that the $10 million referred to the KS money not the total budget. Also the $4-5 million would be all the outside investors combined, not just Sony. I expect based on past comments that Sega is also offering at least some of that money too.

I expect this to finish over $6 million based on how it's done so far. He mentioned $5 million was also a big budgetary milestone so I expect we'll see something decent in size if not huge.