Shenmue 3 has performed “fine” financially but has proved to be a “a core niche product”, according to the parent company of publisher Deep Silver.
Speaking during an earnings presentation on Wednesday,Embracer GroupCEO Lars Wingefors claimed the YsNet title’s performance showed it’s not a mass market product.
“Shenmue 3is an IP and a product I love and, you know, I think financially it’s fine and I’m glad that the core fans are pleased,” he said.
“However, I think it’s a challenge to see this as a mass market product. This is a core niche product and I think that’s the comment I’d like to do on that game.”
The long-awaited RPG sequel released forPS4andPCvia theEpic Games Storein November 2019. It appeared to get off to a difficult start,debuting at No. 17 on the UK chartand selling just 18,000 copiesduring its launch week in Japan.
In the UK, Shenmue 3 sold a little more than half of the previous year’s Shenmue 1 and 2 remaster at launch.
However, sales will have been skewed by Shenmue 3’s huge Kickstarter success. In 2016 the project raised over $6.3 million from 69,320 backers, making it the highest funded video game Kickstarter in history.
Shenmue creatorYu Suzukihad previously pledged to continue making Shenmue games “as long as there are those who wish to see Shenmue live on.”
The commitment was made viaan in-game letter to fans shown during Shenmue 3’s staff credits.
In the letter, Suzuki said he would “never give up” on his ambition to complete the overall Shenmue story, which has previously been estimated to beless than 50% completeby the end of the third game. In a 2015 AMA, Suzuki said he would like to complete11 story chapters across at least five games.
The designer told VGC atGamescom 2019thatplans for Shenmue 4 would be made easier if sales of the third game are good.However, he added that the future of the series would be more dependent on which partners he can secure.
In the same interview, the veteranSegadesigner suggested he could bein discussions to return to his classic series Virtua Fighter and Out Run.
