Sony helping to fund and develop Shenmue 3

Shenmue III may have raised close to $3m through its crowdfunding appeal, but it’s likely that a significant portion of the game’s development budget will come from PlayStation.

The game was announced during Sony’s E3 press conference, kicking off the rapidly-funded Kickstarter campaign, and now the platform holder will aid development of the final game, MCV reports.

The partnership between Sony and series creator Yu Suzuki was detailed during PlayStation’s E3 livestream by Gio Corsi, the firm’s director of third-party production and developer relations.

During the broadcast, Corsi explained that PlayStation would not only help development but also funding for the title.

The revelation adds a new perspective to the Kickstarter campaign’s relatively low goal of $2m – the original Shenmue broke records when it was first released with a development budget of $47m.

Corsi explained that the Kickstarter was set up partly to gauge consumer interest: “If the fans come in and back it, then absolutely we’re going to make this a reality.”

Shenmue III is currently in development for PS4 and PC – although other platforms haven’t been ruled out – and is due in December 2017.