Regardless of whether it will live up to expectations or not, Shenmue III is at long last beginning to look like a finished product, which should be cause for celebration. Unfortunately, the long awaited sequel has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons of late – mostly due to developer Ys Net accepting a window of timed exclusivity for the Epic Games Store release.
None of this drama really affects the PlayStation 4 edition, but one thing that will are the lack of pre-order bonuses for Kickstarter backers. If you pre-order the game through participating retail outlets right now, you’ll be guaranteed the Kenpogi Training Outfit, ‘Blazing Kick’ Advanced Technique Scroll, and Peking Power Starter Pack.
While we’re assuming all of these items will be unlockable using in-game currency, some funders feel they’re being ripped off here. Writing on the project’s Kickstarter page, a representative for Ys Net pointed out that backers will get the crowd-funded version of the game, which comes with its own roster of exclusive bonuses unavailable elsewhere. This has done little to douse the backlash.
To make matters worse, the developer has also confirmed that those who donated to the title will have to buy its Season Pass separately, prompting further outrage. Personally, we’re not sure why funders feel entitled to everything – especially those who contributed less than $30 for a full copy of the game. Then again, Ys Net should be bending over backwards for its fans, and right now it doesn’t feel that way.
[source kickstarter.com, via wccftech.com]
Comments 29
"Pre-Order Bonuses Come at Extra Cost"
"Bonuses"
I mean, if you hit the backer tier or if the Kickstarter implied that it would be free then it should be, for the backers at least.
Glad I’m not a Shenmue fan because it seems like everything is going poorly as of late.
People love to complain. The game is coming and it's looking great. The season pass could help make Shenmue 4. Let's wait and see what it is before judging.
I paid $100, and I was supposed to get a Trial Version of the game as well... Don't know if that's happening anymore. Season Pass too? Really?
Huh... This is the last game I will ever help crowdfund. I officially do not trust like that.
@Dange Locking out certain players out of their platform of choice is some what cheap on PC. Taking their money and then taking a EPIC exclusive deal is insulting. I believe that backers should at least get the game on platform off choice.
@Flaming_Kaiser I agree with you on that. Although I believe they have offered refunds. Still not right to lock Steam out.
@Dange
Epic offered refunds not Deep Silver or Ys Net.
It's the least they could have done and their PC Store had to step in and do it for them...
I would not congratulate them for that. At all.
@Constable_what
Whatever the situation. I don't think it was right. As I've already said. My original post had nothing to do with the PC. I was talking about the season pass on PS4. I don't disagree about Epic.
Why should they get the season pass? Was there language at any backer tier that assured all released content? I guess it hardly matters I knew this was a high risk kickstarter.
@stuzster yep. That was what my point was. I don't feel entitled to anything other than what I'm getting. Thanks for articulating it better than I can.
I suspect most of those kicking off didnt even back the game on kickstarter. Its just today's latest entitled gamer outrage. How tiresome.
If Ys Net didnt promise season pass content as a reward tier, then it should never have been assumed that additional content would be free to backers.
If they did promise all future content and expansions, thats another matter entirely.
I've backed the standard version of the game on Kickstarter and I was not expecting any of the season pass content. As backer you get a different set of goodies to the pre-order bonuses, which are just usually just in game tat, so I have no issue with it really.
This does all seem rather dishonest and sneaky. If a backer is helping to fund a game that might not otherwise have been made, then unless the Kickstarter page specified otherwise I'd expect the backers to get the complete version of the game.
I will never be surprise with problems on Kickstarter. Backers should consider themselves lucky they even get anything from Kickstarter.
Why do funders feel entitled??? Coz they funded it when the company needed it. They supported it and made it happen. They took a risk. Crowd funding has morphed into companies using it for quick access to preorder money and that isn’t what it is. If it’s just a preorder tool then use retailers. Respect your funders and reward them and they will come back stronger each time
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi at £300 you should get it all....
@Steel76 simply because most games don't sell enough on their own to make a profit.
Yes, there are exceptions. But that's what they are. Exceptions.
I only pledge $29 so I don’t have any complain lol.
But compared to “all dlc free” shovel knight and bloodstained, this make ys net looks bad. I don’t think people want to back ys net again compared to yacht club games (shovel knight devs) and artplay (bloodstained devs).
Makes me worried about the future of Shenmue because of how this is being managed.
@Dange - Gotta admire your hope that Shenmue 4 will be a thing. Hint: it won't. This game will tank commercially just like Shenmue 1 and 2 did, so far Y's have had investment money from KS, Sony, Deep Silver and Epic who are also paying out refunds. It's already losing money!
No amount of season pass sales will turn profit enough and any hope of a KS for a 4th game is gone, nobody in their right mind would back it. I backed this game myself but I wouldn't again and I highly doubt any publisher will fund any future game.
I love that a bunch of people came to the comments section to express apathy instead of anger, and they get downvoted for it. Haha.
I feel the same. Kickstarter themselves say that the service they provide is helping people "get involved in creating something." Kickstarter spins this narrative that sometimes things don't work like you want them to, and that's all part of the "joy" of bringing a product to market. Being along for the experience. And then they tell project creators that backers are making an investment and backers assume any and all disclosed risks that this won't work, or that the end result will not meet initial expectations. Just like an investor in an arms length transaction.
But let's be real here. This is totally just a preorder platform.
For some of the controversies, maybe you all are justified in being angry. You feel like you're getting ripped off. IMO, Kickstarter should have a big banner on its homepage reading "abandon all hope, ye who enter here." After several years and about fifteen backed projects, I finally learned that backing a kickstarter is just risky business no matter what. These devs really are between a rock and a hard place. Try not to blame them. They often need to disappoint somebody just to get something to market.
@rjejr Do you know what it means? It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with being free:
"Something given or paid in addition to what is usual or expected."
It can refer to something free (though is often joined by the word "free" in those cases), but for example, if someone gets a bonus at work for doing an especially good job, is it not a bonus because they had to work extra hard to get it? Etymologically it just means "good", not "free".
Besides, preorder bonuses ARE typically free extras that you get by preordering, not by paying more. Here the issue is that the free bonuses are for preorders and Kickstarter pledges aren't preorders, and don't add to the sales total. That said, if it were up to me they'd get them anyway as a thank you. Still, I just have to take issue with the "they don't know what bonus means" thing.
@Matroska "That said, if it were up to me they'd get them anyway as a thank you."
So, you agree with me, you just don't like my saying the Emperor has no clothes?
Well I didn't kickstartet it. But I will buy eventually when the ultimate edition comes out on ps5. I will wait 2 years glady. (¬､¬) I am in no rush. Thanks tho all who kickstartet it!
@naruball - You don't honestly believe games are unprofitable without season passes do you? Passes didn't exist before the 2010's and the gaming industry was hardly circling the drain before then.
Just keep in mind that one of the first instances of the season pass came from those wonderful folks at Take 2, the very company that think GTAV, the most successful entertainment product in history is under monetized.
The gaming industry has almost always been profitable and now it makes more money than ever and still would without season passes. It's greed, not need.
There was no interest in funding the game until the kickstarter backing. They gave them a 6.5 million dollar interest free loan. Once that happened they got interest from deep silver then Epic. What is the ultimate pre order? Backing a game before it's even created. And yes I believe all people who backed kickstarter should get all bonuses and season pass. It is only 59000 people. Y's Net is clueless.
I still feel really bad for the PC backers who were stabbed in the back with the Epic exclusivity deal.
They got $6.3 million dollars from backers. And they no doubt got some from Sony and Deep Silver. Then they got more - probably in the millions - from Epic. Let's face it, if not for the backers, there wouldn't even be a game for Epic to hijack.
That's four funding chains, totalling probably $10-15 million. They could probably give the game away free and still sleep on a pile of money.
Maybe those who only pledged $30-$60 shouldn't feel entitled to get everything; but those who pledged $300 or more (and there were several) certainly have every right to be p*ssed off.
They handled everything poorly. Kudos to Epic for at least trying to balance things out.
Also, it doesn't matter how much you pledge, $30 or $300, it's the failed promise that matters: "give us your money and we'll give you x".
People who fund kickstarters take a considerably higher risk with their money than a regular gamer, and that risk should be rewarded. They should not be treated as regular gamers. With this move they more or less are. What the developers and publishers have done is to undermine the whole ethos of crowd-fudning. They should have said no to the Epic exclusivity, but greed is powerful.
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