Epic Refunds Shenmue III Backers After Game Becomes Epic Exclusive

Epic will refund lost fees to users who supported Shenmue III on Kickstarter. The game developer pays that money back to Shenmue developer Ys Net, so that it does not turn a loss.

With this, Epic wants to ensure that the turnover of Ys Net is not damaged, says Epic founder Tim Sweeney on Twitter. It concerns money that players have donated via Kickstarter for the crowdfunding of Shenmue III. In the future, Epic will also compensate developers or ensure that players can still play their games on other platforms.

Sweeney is responding to angry players who demanded their money back from Ys Just after the developer decided to only offer the game in the Epic Game Store. Users who had supported the game via Kickstarter did so with the prospect of being able to play the game on Steam, but Ys Net decided to place the game exclusively on the Epic Store. “We’ve tried to make the game available on Steam from day one, but it’s not possible,” the developer wrote in an update post. Players could then request their money back, or wait a year for the Steam activation key.

Image from Shenmue III