UPDATE: Ys Net have responded to a question from one of their backers, explaining why they made this decision. You can read it here.
The latest Shenmue 3 update delivers the results of a recent poll, where backers were asked whether or not the Kickstarter-exclusive rewards should in fact remain exclusive, or should also be given to those backing the Slacker Backer campaign via PayPal. Around 31% of the backers answered “Yes”, while 27% voted “No”. The rest of the 15,110 people who voted answered “either way is fine with me”. While this means that almost three out of four people who voted had no objection to making the exclusive Kickstarter rewards available for PayPal backers, Ys Net decided not to make the rewards available to PayPal backers due to the strong response from people voting No.
In the comments on the Kickstarter page, people are expressing their disappointment in the way the poll was organized. One user pointed out that the survey wasn’t actually locked to Kickstarter backers. Anyone who had the link could make it available to non-backers, meaning that basically anyone could vote as long as they had the link. Others say that Ys Net ignored the results from the “either way is fine” option.
Personally, I had no problem with the rewards being made available for PayPal backers, in fact as explained in my previous article, I think one reward in particular shouldn’t have been made exclusive to begin with. But the people who want the rewards to remain exclusive also have the right to voice their opinion. After all, that was the initial agreement, and backing a project is considered to be a direct legal agreement between creators and their backers. I can imagine that changing the terms could result in people asking for a refund. A situation that I imagine Ys Net wants to avoid.
But what I think is the real problem here is that the PC version remains absent from the Slacker Backer campaign, meaning anyone who doesn’t own a PS4 has little reason to back the project at this point. Making the PC version available would likely boost sales more than the Kickstarter-exclusive rewards.
Also part of the update was the reveal of the revamped website. However, I noticed a few issues with the website, and I’ll elaborate on that in a follow-up article.