"Don't preorder Shenmue" - Freedom of speech!

Stop Donating To The 'Shenmue 3' Kickstarter Right Now
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Here’s the good news: Shenmue 3 is actually happening! That’s a great thing.  This long-awaited sequel to one the most beloved games of all time is finally coming back to modern consoles as part of slightly surreal streak of wish fulfillment this E3, and we should be happy about that fact. Yu Suzuki and Sony said that this game wouldn’t happen unless it could raise $2 million on Kickstarter, which it blew through in a day, and now it’s nearly up to $3 million. So, a success. And now it’s time to stop giving it our money.

There was something very strange about this Kickstarter from the beginning. Shenmue 3 isn’t the first Kickstarter game apparently using the platform for publicity while actually funding the project through more traditional means, but it’s certainly the most brazen. The very fact that it was launched on stage at the Sony press conference set off a giant warning sign, and the fact that they were only asking for $2 million dollars to make the sequel to a game that cost $70 million in 1999 set off several more. The game is being funded by Sony, and it’s using Kickstarter as a way of gauging fan interest. It’s even better than free publicity — it’s publicity Sony gets paid for. It’s a little bit deceptive, but it’s hardly uncommon.

As with most games like this, most of the Kickstarter rewards amount to pre-order bonuses, and we at Forbes are always cautioning you against pre-orders of any kind. This kind of pre-order is the most “pre” imaginable. We’ve seen virtually nothing from this game, and we’re taking it on faith that it’s going to be worth our money based on our faith in Yu Suzuki and our love of the previous games. It’s a nice idea, but I’m a firm believer in not buying things until you know whether or not they’re any good. If something went wrong, Shenmue 3 would be far from the first Kickstater game to lose its way.

Sony asked a price from its fans, which they paid. Shenmue 3 is happening. This game is going to cost far, far more than $2 million to make and the majority of that money isn’t going to come from Kickstarter. The stretch goals are a bizarre in this circumstance: would they really have not made Spanish subtitles if they didn’t raise a few extra dollars, thus sacrificing the entire Spanish-speaking market? Does the scope of the game actually depend on them raising an extra $1 million on top of the what they already have? Somehow I doubt it. Sony has agreed to help with this game, and it’s going to want the game to be successful. Its development budget does not depend on reaching stretch goals.

So while it’s always fun to get excited about things, pre-orders in any form perpetuate a skewed relationship between gamers and developers, one where the quality of the game becomes increasingly unbundled from its financial success. It’s great that we’re getting Shenmue 3.  Now we have to sit back and wait to see if it’s going to be any good.