So gamers are still pretty salty over the announcement that Shenmue III would be a timed exclusive on the Epic Games Store for PC. Epic did make a promise to pay back refunds to any gamers and fans who wanted them, taking some of the financial burden off of developers who make a move to the Epic Games Store.
And now, backers of the game through crowdfunding have something new to be angry about.
The whole thing is based on a recent blog post from theShenmue III Team detailing the situation. According to Kickstarter backer by the name of Antonio Miranda, they reached out to the developer to ask about the Season Pass and Trial Versions of the final game which were something many gamers were looking forward to.
Here’s the full response from Ys Net:
Dear Antonio,
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
The response is expected, even though it has angered many fans and gamers. The Season Pass and trial demo were not mentioned as part of the backer campaign as either a pledge promise or stretch goal. Gamers are still hopeful that the bevvy of mini-games, like forklift racing, will be back in the newest sequel.
The new game will release in November, on the 30th for PS4 and PC. Assuming it doesn’t get delayed again. The original delay happened to pull the game out of the crowded launch window, trying to help the game get the maximum possible exposure.
