Shenmue 3 Creator Gives Small Update on Its Progress

It's been a year since Shenmue III's Kickstarter launched, and series creator Yu Suzuki has released a short video update on how development is going.

"Your cheers at the Sony announcement still ring in my ears," Suzuki said. "Since then, we have been gradually bringing on new project members. Late last year, we began using Shenmue 2 characters to do simple battle and conversation tests on UE4.

"With our key developers on board, the prototype build started in January. It has been six months since the project has really taken off. Battle and facial expressions are coming together, and cheers from the crew are growing. It makes me feel it will turn out to be a good game."

Suzuki ended the video asking fans to keep up their support. It's not a lot of information, and the game sounds like it's still got a long way to go before it's finished. GameSpot will keep you updated as more on Shenmue III is announced.

Alongside the video, developer Ys Net wrote that Kickstarter backer surveys have not yet been sent, and it'll be a while before anyone sees them. The survey in question will allow backers to confirm their reward details, such as platform choice and T-shirt size. An announcement will appear on the Kickstarter Update page, the official website, and Twitter when a survey date is decided.

Shenmue III raked in a whopping $6.3 million on Kickstarter, the most any video game has ever earned on the crowdfunding platform. It wasn't enough to reach its $10 million stretch to make it a "true open world" game, but Suzuki said during the campaign that he wouldn't be disappointed if it missed the mark.