Sony took the stage to announce Shenmue 3’s Kickstarter at their E3 conference last week, completing the trifecta of legendary game announcements that everyone hoped for, but didn’t really expect (the other two were The Last Guardian and Final Fantasy 7’s remake). For a while, everyone was excited- Shenmue 3 was finally happening! But then, details about the project began to arise, and there was some confusion about it all. First, Sony was not funding it, and it was Suzuki’s thing entirely; then, Sony was funding it, and the Kickstarter was just to gauge interest; then Sony wasn’t funding it, and most of the funds were expected to come in through Kickstarter.
This is also an important question because it determines just which systems Shenmue 3 eventually comes to. While Wii U is probably out of the question, if Sony’s involvement with the project was minimal, the game might eventually make its way over to the Xbox One, for example, right?
Right now, that seems to be the case. The Kickstarter page of Shenmue 3 has been updated, and it now seems to be hinting at an Xbox One version. Previously, when discussing a release on other platforms, this is what it said:
‘Currently we are planning development only for PC (Windows) and PS4. Other platforms have not been decided yet.’
However, today, this text was further added: ‘If other platform versions were added as rewards, an announcement would be made on the update page.’
Does that mean that an Xbox One version of the game may be added as a stretch goal? That would certainly be very interesting in a lot of ways. It would also imply that Sony’s involvement in this entire project may, in fact, be zero. Apart from taking the time out in their E3 conference to announce the Kickstarter on stage, and be attached forever to the project as its savior.
Which is a bit gross.