What’s a good way to raise awareness for a small school in China? Have a UN Goodwill Ambassador come by? Start a viral campaign? How about putting it in a video game? That’s what these two brothers decided to do.
The two brothers work for a non-profit Volunteer English Teacher (V.E.T.) Program based in Guilin, China, and they figured that backing Shenmue 3 would help them get more exposure for the school. The $20,000 that they put into Shenmue 3 will get them a NPC cameo, and a mention in the credits as Special Sponsor, which are part of the $10,000 tier rewards.
They don’t want any personal recognition, though. For the NPC cameo, they’d like for the Volunteer Chinese assistants to be featured, as recognition for their hard work and dedication. The backer rewards list that the NPC will battle with Ryo, but the brothers plan to ask Yu Suzuki if they could have the NPC be a non-violent villager instead. As for the Special Sponsor credits, they’re hoping that they can put the school’s logo and a website written instead of their names.
The money that went into the Kickstarter are from the brothers’ personal funds, not from the donations made to the V.E.T. Program. All donations go toward paying for the school’s upkeep.
It looks like there is some confusion from different websites reporting this. We receive donations and that money always…
Posted by Volunteer English Teacher – VET Program on Monday, July 6, 2015
Members of the ShenmueDojo forum seem on board with this idea, and are wishing the brothers the best of luck. Surely Yu Suzuki would have no qualms with getting a non-violent NPC in the game and a small school’s logo in the credits? Visit the V.E.T. Program’s Facebook page to find out more about what they do.
