Shenmue III Kickstarter Smashes Its $2m Goal In Less Than 12 Hours

Dry those eyes, Shenmue fans, yours and thousands of other’s dreams are finally a reality – Shenmue III is most definitely happening. Series creator Yu Suzuki made a surprise appearance at Sony’s E3 conference last night, proclaiming that the fate of the long-awaited sequel was purely in the hands of its fans.

Well, Mr. Suzuki’s faith has been well-placed and then some. The Kickstarter page for the game – which promptly popped up after the announcement – has already surpassed the $2m goal, less than 12 hours after funding opened.

The phenomenal level of support the title is receiving from the public has proven, without a shadow of a doubt, that there’s a large group of gamers out there that want a conclusion to Ryo Hazuki’s story.

It’s been 14 years since Shenmue II was released for the Sega Dreamcast, and even though the two original titles in the series won almost universal critical-acclaim, low sales of the second game meant Sega have been reluctant to risk funding the final part of the trilogy. But nobody needs the history lessons any more – Shenmue III is real, it has the funding it needs and it’s coming out on PC and PlayStation 4.