Corey Marshall, who played main character Ryo in the previous two entries, will be returning for the upcoming Shenmue 3. The announcement was made via the game’s Kickstarter page, which is currently at $3.7 million with 16 days left to go.
Corey Marshall had previously expressed interest in returning to the series, which hasn’t had a sequel in almost 14 years. The voice actor behind Xiu, Joy and Yuan, Lislie Wilkerson also seemed ready to return, so hopefully we hear some good news on that front soon.
Corey also confirmed that it was not his voice in the Shenmue 3 trailer that launched the Kickstarter campaign. Likely a stand-in was used to get things rolling, before negotiations began with the previous voice cast.
Along with Corey’s return came new additions to the higher tiers of Kickstarter rewards. “The $1,000 Reward for the Corey Marshall as Ryo Voice Message will include the $500 Reward. The Ryo Voice Message will also be included in the Rewards for $2,000 and up.”
With the Kickstarter exploding in popularity there have been a lot of changes already to the campaign. Stretch goals have been added, with many already being reached, and updates about the game’s development are already trickling in. Expect more news and updates as Shenmue 3 works its way to its funding day and beyond.
Shenmue 3 is planned for release on PS4 and PC in late 2017.
