It will ‘soon’, but we don’t know when
Shenmue 3, buddy, listen to me. There are so many people excited for you. You managed to break crowdfunding records and everything. Because of that, you need to stop being so damn vague and confusing with how you take people’s money.
After a long and confusing Kickstarter that began during E3, Shenmue 3 is now allowing people to continue to back the game through the “Slacker Backer Campaign.”
Let’s ignore the implication that people who aren’t sure about buying a game before it’s even made are “slackers,” and focus on something else: where’s the PC version gone? It’s not a reward any more.
It was on the Kickstarter campaign, and the idea of a Shenmue on PC got plenty of people interested, yet the only thing the be seen on the Slacker Backer campaign is a PC copy of the demo at $100, bundled with a copy of the game for the PS4.
Now stop me if this sounds stupid, but surely a PS4 player would want their demo on… y’know… a PS4? And someone who wants their demo on PC would also want the full game on PC? This seems just a little bit arse-backwards to me…
Well, according to PC Gamer, the absence of a PC version is due to admin problems in relation to the game’s partners. Yes, as in those things most people use crowdfunding to avoid.
The PC version is still coming when the final game comes out, but the partners involved haven’t given developer Ys Net the go-ahead to offer it as a reward.
This [Slacker Backer] crowdfunding is a new campaign so we have to negotiate again with all the partys involved. That’s the reason why you cannot find PC the version yet, but we are confident to have it in the near future… Please remember that in the Kickstarter campaign, the PS4 physical version was not offered at the beginning.
So basically, the partners haven’t given the developer permission to offer their own game as a reward. Conveniently, those partners also probably didn’t pay as much as they would to be a part of any other game thanks to the magic of incredibly cynical crowdfunding.
The PC version is coming soon to that slacker campaign. Hopefully. If the partners let them. Maybe. All the Slacker Backer campaign currently says is “at the moment, we are discussing the PC version with the related parties.” That can mean literally anything.
God I hope Shenmue 3 is good after all this nonsense.
Shenmue 3 publisher says PC coming to new funding campaign in “the near future” [PC Gamer]