Backers Of The Original Shenmue III Kickstarter Will Only Have A Two-Week Window To Receive Refunds

Backers Of The Original Shenmue III Kickstarter Will Only Have A Two-Week Window To Receive Refunds
Credit: YS Net via YouTube

Yet another entry to be made in the on-going Shenmue III fiasco with the Epic Games Store. This time, backers of the original Kickstarter for the long-awaited entry in the Shenmue series will only have a limited window to claim their refunds, if they choose to do so. And the beginning of that window is coming up fast.

The whole debacle started only a few months ago after Shenmue III‘s developers at Ys Net decided to take a one-year exclusivity deal from the Epic Games Store for PC versions of the game. This change came after the Kickstarter explicitly promised the game would be available on Steam for PC, which, to be fair, it still will be, but only following one year after its initial release. Of course, fans were angry. Eventually, Ys Net announced that it would offer a refund to any backers of the Kickstarter if they wanted.

Now the window for the refund is fast approaching. It will start this month, in fact.

In an announcement on their official blog, Ys Net told the Kickstarter backers that it would be sending out a survey by email. There, the backers would have the option to choose whether they wanted to receive the game for PS4 instead of on PC. If they do, then they will not be getting a refund.

Those who select the PC option, however, will get the chance to submit for a refund in the survey. The downside is that the backers will only be able to use this method to apply for a refund and they will have a two-week window to request the money. Ys Net says it expects the refunds to reach them anytime between 20 business or even up to 3 months.

The first Shenmue was one of the first open-world games in history and came out on the original Dreamcast. Since then, Shenmue</em has been a cult classic much adored by fans, which is probably one reason why the Kickstarter ended up making so much money.

The game combines elements of a classic fighting game with elements of a role-playing game. There are also loads of quick-time events. None of that says anything about the epic cinematic storyline. The last game came out over 18 years ago, so it makes sense why fans would be so upset about the exclusivity deal after backing the Kickstarter campaign.

Shenmue III will launch on November 19th for PlayStation 4 and PC. It will cost $59.99.

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