By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - An Update on the Shenmue Controversy

A few weeks ago, Shenmue 3 became the subject of controversy when Ys Net announced that Shenmue 3 would be an Epic Games Store exclusive. Many were outraged, and demanded refunds because it was originally promised to be on Steam. Today, they have released an update on the situation:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3/posts/2553891

Go read that first, the rest is my own takeaway.

There's two main things here I want to discuss. The first is that they're giving full refunds. 

"Along with Deep Silver and Epic Games, we have agreed that should the above proposal not be acceptable to backers, refund requests will be honored."

This actually surprised me. I didn't think that they would give in to the refund demands, or even be able to. Maybe they're confident that not many will actually request them. I don't know.

The second, and more important, issue is regarding the exclusivity.

"If selecting either the PC Physical or PC Digital version, an option to also receive a Steam key one year later will be available. Backers must manually select this option in the survey to receive the Steam key."

So the Epic Games Store exclusivity is only a one year timed exclusive, not permanent, and will be available on Steam thereafter. You may think that this is a new decision in response to the controversy, but it actually was the plan from the beginning. Buried in the FAQ of the Shenmue website, it did indeed say that the EGS exclusivity was for only one year, and that it would available on Steam as well after that. (I think that they have since changed their website, so I can't find this anymore. You'll have to take my word for it.) However, it wasn't completely clear that Kickstarter backers would be able to wait a year for the Steam version, so it is nice to have that clarified.

Conclusion: 

Does it suck that Shenmue 3 will be an Epic Games Store exclusive for the first year? Yes. Was it wrong to do so after initially promising the game would be on Steam during the Kickstarter campaign? Absolutely. But the timed exclusivity should never have created anywhere near as much anger as it did. That was clearly an issue of poor communication on account of Ys Net. Their original announcement said nothing of timed exclusivity, and made it entirely sound like the EGS exclusivity was permanent. Their original post should have made everything abundantly clear, like they did in today's post. And after they saw the fan outcry, they should have immediately clarified, instead of hiding the issue in the FAQ and waiting weeks for a proper response. In the end, this isn't that bad. But damn this whole episode could have easily been avoided.



NNID: garretslarrity

Steam: garretslarrity

Around the Network
garretslarrity said:

Does it suck that Shenmue 3 will be an Epic Games Store exclusive for the first year? Yes. Was it wrong to do so after initially promising the game would be on Steam during the Kickstarter campaign? Absolutely.

"Promise" is a strong word. Afaik the only mention of steam in the kickstarter campaign is that it was listed under system requirements. 

Personally I don't get the EGS hate, you can still play it on the same machine, it's a minor inconvenience at best. It's just console-wars mentality spreading over to PC Gamers.

But this response is great, get it on PC, PS4 or get a full refund.



They probably checked it with their lawyers and they were advised to just allow the refunds to avoid possible lawsuits. Plus, pretty sure Epic gave them way more than the total sum of the crowfunded money, so even at a 100% refund rate, they would still win money.

Also, does the PC version has the option for physical support? As in, a disk with the game not attached to a DRM service? Because if it doesn't, why bother with multiple formats?



You know it deserves the GOTY.

Come join The 2018 Obscure Game Monthly Review Thread.

Darwinianevolution said:
They probably checked it with their lawyers and they were advised to just allow the refunds to avoid possible lawsuits. Plus, pretty sure Epic gave them way more than the total sum of the crowfunded money, so even at a 100% refund rate, they would still win money.

Also, does the PC version has the option for physical support? As in, a disk with the game not attached to a DRM service? Because if it doesn't, why bother with multiple formats?

The same reason any PC games have a physical release... err... I'll get back to you when I figure that out.

The disk is attached to Epic Game Store.



Darwinianevolution said:

Also, does the PC version has the option for physical support? As in, a disk with the game not attached to a DRM service? Because if it doesn't, why bother with multiple formats?

They said: "The PC Physical version will be delivered on disk. However, the disk will contain the Epic Games Store installer and not the actual game data."

So why they even bothered making the disk is beyond me....



NNID: garretslarrity

Steam: garretslarrity

Around the Network

For stuff like this is that they should have from the start just kept it exclusive to PS4 and Sony funding =p



duduspace11 "Well, since we are estimating costs, Pokemon Red/Blue did cost Nintendo about $50m to make back in 1996"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=8808363

Mr Puggsly: "Hehe, I said good profit. You said big profit. Frankly, not losing money is what I meant by good. Don't get hung up on semantics"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=9008994

Azzanation: "PS5 wouldn't sold out at launch without scalpers."

It's about time, but this needs to stop. There was no reason why they needed a publisher and go Epic exclusive when they raised over $6 million. This is greed, and the backers see this. What was a point of a kickstarter if they were getting money elsewhere? The backers made this happen, and they completely ignored them. If it wasn't for them Shenmue 3 wouldn't happen. This is why people are hating on Epic and the companies taking the bribe. This is making people not want to kickstart anything anymore, and are keeping them far away from the Epic Store.



I don't get it, I just don't know what the big fuss is about. I mean I backed shenmue 3 on kickstarter so that the game can be made, and so I can play it, well that is exactly what is happening. I have EGS, Steam, and PS4 so why is it so hard for people to adjust..

Some people are being so pity on kickstater's comment section saying they're going to pirate. smh



CPU: Ryzen 7950X
GPU: MSI 4090 SUPRIM X 24G
Motherboard: MSI MEG X670E GODLIKE
RAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR PLATINUM 32GB DDR5
SSD: Kingston FURY Renegade 4TB
Gaming Console: PLAYSTATION 5

we even got more added because of epic.



CPU: Ryzen 7950X
GPU: MSI 4090 SUPRIM X 24G
Motherboard: MSI MEG X670E GODLIKE
RAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR PLATINUM 32GB DDR5
SSD: Kingston FURY Renegade 4TB
Gaming Console: PLAYSTATION 5
deskpro2k3 said:
I don't get it, I just don't know what the big fuss is about. I mean I backed shenmue 3 on kickstarter so that the game can be made, and so I can play it, well that is exactly what is happening. I have EGS, Steam, and PS4 so why is it so hard for people to adjust..

Some people are being so pity on kickstater's comment section saying they're going to pirate. smh

Why? It's a legitimate form of protest. And if they've legitimately paid and supported the game, is it really piracy?



You know it deserves the GOTY.

Come join The 2018 Obscure Game Monthly Review Thread.