Shenmue 3 promises on-disc release for PlayStation 4

Shenmue 3 will see a physical-copy release on a console, the game’s developers told Kickstarter backers this weekend.

Contributing $60 to the game’s development now delivers four options for delivery: digital copies for Windows PC or PlayStation 4, physical copy for Windows PC, and now a disc for PlayStation 4.

Anyone who has contributed at the $60 level and selected a PC physical copy already may switch their choice to a PlayStation 4 disc if they wish. The $60 contribution gets only one format on one platform.

The fund drive to create Shenmue 3 was announced three weeks ago during Sony’s E3 keynote. It beat a $2 million goal within its first nine hours and has grown to nearly $4.3 million since.

That said, creator Yu Suzuki has suggested that the project needs $10 million in backing to truly fulfill his creative vision for the game, which involves an open-world setting. The original Shenmue, which launched in 1999 on the Dreamcast, had a production budget of $47 million.

There are 12 days left in the Kickstarter campaign for Shenmue 3. Shenmue 2 launched in 2001 on Dreamcast and Xbox. Sony also is contributing to the game’s development.