The original Shenmue was released in 1999, with the sequel following closely in 2001, developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega. While the game gained quite a following, it was considered the most expensive video game developed at the time at a whopping USD 70 million and turned out to be a commercial failure. Thereafter, Sega was reluctant to give way for Shenmue 3’s creation.
Suzuki then launched a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund the third game, which successfully raised enough and became the sixth highest funded game in Kickstarter history.
Shenmue 3 will be published by Deep Silver and is to be released in the latter half of the year, although a solid date has not been set. Developers are positive that the game will deliver to the fanbase, with an improved story-line and gameplay.
