Shenmue III continues its troubled journey towards release. This newest scandal comes from the fact that Kickstarter backers will not be receiving pre-order content.
As spotted by Wccftech, Kickstarter user Antonio Miranda posted an email he received from Ys Net under the latest update on the campaign’s blog:
We apologize for the long delay in responding. Your feedback is appreciated and we will look into having your noted points in future updates.
Standard and deluxe versions released through retail sales are not affiliated with the crowdfunding campaign, so will not be included with backer pledges, however, they will be available for sale separately. Kickstarter Backers will receive the Kickstarter version, Slacker Backers will receive the Slacker Backer version. Both have unique content respective to their versions not available in the retail versions.
A season pass is not included.
Trial version release date info has yet to be confirmed and will be announced in the updates when details are available. You will be receiving your trial trial version, but we must ask for your patience for a little longer.
There will be more information following in the days ahead concerning updates.
Sincerely,
The Shenmue III Team
So, the versions that Kickstarter/Slacker backers will receive will have unique content, but it won’t include pre-order stuff from retail versions of Shenmue III. However, they will be allowed to buy it, which probably feels like a slap in the face. You can hardly do pre-order harder than becoming a Kickstarter backer. Alas, that is not enough.
The fact that Kickstarter backers won’t get the Shenmue III season pass is less jarring since it wasn’t really a thing that was promised in the campaign.
This is just the latest negative development on the already arduous road to Shenmue III. The game has been delayed a few times already. It also turned into an Epic Games Store exclusive at one point, prompting anger from Steam-bound fans. And while Ys Net denied any refunds for those who wanted a Steam key, Epic Games had to step in with an offer to handle said refunds.
Shenmue III will launch on PC and PlayStation 4 on November 19 (probably).
