Over three years have passed since what many call the “E3 of Dreams” in 2015, and Shenmue III has been in development since, funded by a Kickstarter campaign and by an additional crowdfunding effort centered on Ys Net’s official website.

The crowdfunding campaign was closed in September this year, and today the developer shared the final tally. We now know that 81,087 fans provided $7,179,510 to fund the development of the game, fueling everyone’s hopes and dreams.

We’re now less than a year away from the massively-anticipated release of Shenmue III, and many younger gamers have finally been able to enjoy the first two games of the series

I still remember the magic moment when the sakura petals started floating on the screen of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s E3 press conference. I will admit that I’m gonna miss that in 2019.

If you want to relive that moment, you can watch it again in the video below, courtesy of YouTube user FrenchyRom.

For the sake of full disclosure, keep in mind that the author of this post is one of those 81,087 backers.

Shenmue III will finally fulfill its promise on August 27th, 2019, and will be released for PS4 and PC.