After years of waiting, Shenmue 3 is finally out in the wild, and it would appear that not many people are really that fussed, as the sales figures for the UK and Japan have proven to be disappointing. Perhaps we might be waiting another two decades for the release of Shenmue 4.
In the UK, Shenmue 3 failed to crack the top 10 in the charts, debuting at number 17. What’s worse is that Shenmue 3 sold only half of last year’s remaster of Shenmue 1 and 2. While the remasters were available across PS4, Xbox One and PC, as opposed to just PS4 and PC for Shenmue 3, only being available on two thirds of the platforms shouldn’t equate to only half the amount of sales.
As for Japan, sales estimates have been sourced from Gematsu via the Japanese outlet Famitsu’s reporting of sales estimates. Shenmue 3 only managed to shift less than 18,000 units, debuting at fourth on the Japanese charts, behind the Nintendo Switch exclusives Pokémon Sword and Shield, Ring Fit Adventure and Luigi’s Mansion.
Shenmue was never going to stand against the full might of the Pokémon franchise, but the near 400K sales for Pokémon Sword and Shield in Japan alone last week compared to the 18k of Shenmue 3 has to be disappointing for publisher Deep Silver. That said, it’s worth mentioning that nearly 70,000 fans who backed the Kickstarter already have their copies, which doesn’t factor into retail figures.
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–Â Shenmue 3 Review Round-Up: What The Critics Are Saying (UPDATED)
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