Shenmue 3 Becomes the Most Funded Video Game in Kickstarter History

Sega is really happy for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night's crowdfunding, but Shenmue III just had the most successful Kickstarter campaign of all time.

With nine hours left on its campaign clock to go, Shenmue III has become the highest funded video game in Kickstarter history, knocking Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Koji Igarashi's spiritual successor to the Castlevania series, to second place. As of this article's publication, Shenmue III's Kickstarter is currently sitting on $5.7 million raised in crowdfunding, surpassing Bloodstained's $5.5 million campaign. Both games have toppled the previous records set by Mighty No. 9's $3.8 million, Pillars of Eternity's $3.9 million and Torment: Tides of Numenera's $4.1 million. The only two other game-related projects to stay beyond Bloodstained and Shenmue's ranges are the Ouya microconsole at $8.5 million and the Exploding Kittens card game at $8.7 million. As successful as Shenmue III has been so far, we don't think it'll be dethroning Kittens' record. Nevertheless, we should note that Shenmue III's Kickstarter was announced on the main stage at E3 2015 during Sony's big presentation, which could attribute to some of its success.

Despite the unlikeliness of toppling the Exploding Kittens' record, Shenmue III still has plenty of stretch goals to reach, going all the way up to the seemingly impossible total of $11 million. Some of these goals are interesting, such as adding an "Advanced Free Battle System" at $6 million and ragdoll physics to combat at $6.5 million. In order to encourage more pledges, developer Ys Net has added a $39 backer award that features having your name listed on the game's official website and a collection of computer wallpapers sent to you (even though they'll likely appear on Google Image the next day). The $39 backer award also features a digital copy of Shenmue III, which is the $29 backer award.

Shenmue III is expected to launch in Dec. 2017 for PlayStation 4 and PC.

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