Development of Shenmue 3 by Ys Net and Shibuya Productions will be helped along the way by PlayStation, Sony's Gio Corsi confirmed today during PlayStation's E3 livestream.
"Sony and PlayStation is definitely a partner in this game," Corsi, Sony's director of Third-Party production, commented. "And it's going be run through Third-Party Production. We're going to help Ys Net get the game done. We're going to be partners on it the whole way."
Sony first discussed making the game with Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki at the 2014 Game Developers Conference, where the two parties decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign to gauge fan interest. If the $2 million target was met, they would proceed with development.
"If the fans come in and back it, then absolutely we're going to make this a reality," Corsi explained, adding that Shenmue 3 was easily the most frequently asked-for game from the Third-Party team.
Suzuki announced the Kickstart fundraising initiative for the game at Sony's E3 press conference last night and the $2 million goal was achieved in less than ten hours. Sony's involvement isn't too surprising, given that Shenmue 2 had a $47 million budget.
Shenmue 3 is in development for PC and PS4 with a tentative December 2017 release date.
