Physical Copies of Shenmue III for PS4 Might Not Make Retail
Whether or not a retail version of Shenmue III will actually be available upon launch for consoles is still not clear. According to VG24/7, an email exchange with the developer Ys Net stated that the company was still unsure whether it would make a physical edition of the long-awaited sequel available for PlayStation 4 players to buy.
Initially, only digital versions of the game were offered to backers of the Kickstarter campaign. After some criticism from fans and a good deal of feedback from those who wanted to have a physical box of the game to keep Ys Net later added a $60 tier. However, it was unclear whether this backer edition of the title would be exclusive to Kickstarter contributors or would make its way to brick and mortar stores. For what it’s worth, a physical edition has already been confirmed for PC while Shenmue III might not even make it to other platforms such as the Xbox One.
Shenmue III was first revealed during Sony’s E3 media briefing in June. Series creator Yu Suzuki came to the stage to official announce the game and let fans know that if a Kickstarter campaign was successful they would be able to get their hands on the long awaited sequel. The Kickstarter was hugely successful and broke several records for video games on the site, reaching more than $5 million in total with a goal of just $2 million.
However, despite the obvious popularity of the campaign, many question whether the rather modest goal was enough to fully fund such an ambitious title. It later became clear that the Kickstarter was not the only avenue of funding. Sony’s Director of Third Party production Gio Corse spoke several days after the announcement, explaining that the company was working with Suzuki to ensure that the game would release. This suggested that the crowdfunding may have been a way to gauge fan interest and predict whether it would be worthwhile for a publisher to provide funds for what it a cult series.