The Shenmue III product page on Steam appeared in October, once the Slacker Backer campaign and backer survey had closed and swapping/upgrading/adding rewards was no longer possible. Responding to a backer, Kickstarter has confirmed that none of its rules or guidelines have been violated. In fact prior to the survey, some backers rued the lack of information as to whether the game would be on Steam, Windows Store, or somewhere else. It is only through these routes – swapping a PS4 copy for a PC one, upgrading to a reward tier that included a PC copy, or adding PC copies to an existing set of rewards – or through joining the Slacker Backer for a PC copy during the final two of its 36 months, that PC copies could ever be chosen based on any mention of Steam from the developers. At the same time, they also had an opportunity to make further donations, in order to upgrade from digital to physical or add extra copies to their haul. In this survey, existing backers could change or confirm their choice of PC (now referencing Steam) or PS4 as the platform for their rewards. The first reference to Steam came in a late June 2018 update announcing the start of a backer survey, listing the Steam client among PC system requirements that were explicitly subject to change during development. Of note is that zero mention of Steam was made during the Kickstarter campaign or the vast majority of the subsequent Slacker Backer campaign, the collective period when almost all crowdfunding donations were made. Those who object to using Epic Games Store cite reasons ranging from its relative lack of features compared to Steam (things such as mod support, achievements, and cloud saves are on Epic’s to-do list), the necessity to divide collections across multiple launchers (Shenmue I & II can be launched via Steam but not Epic, for example), and claims that it contains spyware for the Chinese government (a theory contested by various sources from PC Gamer and other journalists to professional hacking experts). Nonetheless, a cascade of anger followed, including at least one death threat sent to Suzuki. After the show, Suzuki was overheard saying to himself, “Everyone’s going to be upset…” Despite diplomatic wording in backer updates, it is known that this was not Suzuki’s decision. On his 61st birthday, Ys Net director Yu Suzuki was on stage at E3’s PC Gaming Show as a new Shenmue III trailer ended with the PlayStation 4 and Epic Games Store logos – the first indication of this exclusivity arrangement prior to its formal announcement shortly afterwards. Refunds will be covered by Epic so as not to hurt Ys Net’s development budget. ![]() An agreement to offer crowdfunding backers Steam keys as an alternative at launch could not be established under these conditions, and so after some to-ing and fro-ing between backers and the companies involved, it was decided that backers of this version will soon be given the choice between an Epic key at launch, an Epic key at launch plus a free Steam key a year later, a PlayStation 4 copy instead, or a refund (if their previously chosen rewards haven’t yet been implemented – eg, personalised in-game content). The purpose of this article is only to ensure that whatever opinions you emerge with are based on reality, for better or worse.ĭuring E3 it was announced that the PC version of Shenmue III will be exclusive for twelve months to the Epic Games Store. ![]() You might find your perceptions shifting based on new information, or you might not. With the facts then established as facts, how you personally feel about them is up to you. If you’re skeptical of anything you read here, because it contradicts a narrative you’ve heard or read from people less inclined to research the topic, then you are encouraged to take all the time you need to examine the evidence linked throughout, until you’re 100% satisfied that what has been provided on this page is the unvarnished truth. What follows is an effort borne of studying this game closely for years to fill in the gaps, with a sober, fully-sourced breakdown of each topic that’s been overshadowing more enjoyable Shenmue III news lately. ![]() Some of it fair and accurate, some of it less so. You may have noticed Shenmue III becoming the subject of much coverage on gaming sites and social media over the past few weeks. ( The following article has been written by James Hamill)
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