Shenmue III will be an Epic Games Store exclusive for one year on the PC version. Exclusivity announcements like that are already enough to stir up the PC community when the Epic Games Store is involved, but the Shenmue III situation seems to have struck a specific chord with people because of its Kickstarter origins. The crowdfunded game was originally planned for a Steam release before that changed after the game’s release date was pushed back once again, and both Ys Net and Epic Games say they’ll be looking into the situation to assess fans’ concerns.
The stir over Shenmue III’s Epic exclusivity reached its peak right when E3 was going on, so the developer wasn’t in a spot to make a definitive statement on the situation. Instead, the studio said that people’s concerns are heard and that it and the other parties involved including Epic Games and Deep Silver will “assess the situation” and find a way to “justify the trust” players have put in the crowdfunded campaign.
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“We want to make sure that the Backers are aware that we are listening to their concerns,” the joint statement on the game’s Kickstarter page said. “We kindly ask all our fans to have some patience, we are currently at E3 demoing the game and need to get back to our respective offices to assess the situation and together find a way forward to justify the trust you placed in us.”
That update itself has received quite a bit of feedback from backers with around 700 comments on the post at the time of publishing. The typical update from the campaign, for reference, usually remains in the double digits as far as comments are concerned. The post that made the Epic Games Store exclusivity announcement which can be seen below garnered nearly 2,000 comments from those wondering why there was no heads up given earlier and others who were frustrated that the wouldn’t be playing on Steam when the game launches.
“We are happy to announce that Shenmue III for PC will be will be an Epic Games Store exclusive,” the update said. “Development for Shenmue III has been moving forward using Unreal Engine and the support we have received from Epic has been excellent. But most importantly, in looking for the most enjoyable experience on PC, it was decided together with Deep Silver after much discussion that the Epic Games Store would be the best distribution platform option.”
Expect to see another announcement from the parties involved after they’ve had a chance to assess things.
