Yu Suzuki, creator of the Shenmue series, has addressed questions regarding the funding of Shenmue 3 and Sony's involvement in the project.

In a update posted on the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter page, Suzuki ensured fans that crowdsourced "funds are going strictly to Ys Net for development of Shenmue 3."

"Sony and Shibuya Productions are not seeing a cent of your Kickstarter dollars," he added.

According to Suzuki, Sony will provide assistance on production, marketing and publishing.

"While it is not business practice to discuss the specific details of such arrangements, I can say that with their assistance on the production and marketing end, and in Sony’s case with some publishing support as well, Ys Net is able to use more of the money we collect through Kickstarter purely for Shenmue 3’s development."

Continuing, Suzuki laid out his ambitions for expanding the game, provided that stretch goals are reached. At the $5 million mark there will be "an all new gameplay feature," and at $10 million "a much larger, completely open world will be yours to explore."

"Even if these Stretch Goals are not reached, Shenmue 3 will already be a sequel true to its name, and one we can all be proud of," he said. "It is my hope though, that together we can make this Shenmue just as revolutionary as the first two were."

Shenmue 3, the long-awaited sequel to a Dreamcast classic, was announced during Sony's E3 2015 press conference, when Suzuki appeared on stage beside PlayStation's Adam Boyes to launch the Kickstarter.

Development is being handled primarily by Ys Net, a studio founded by Yu Suzuki in 2008. Shibuya Productions, a Monaco-based company that produces and promotes animation, games and movies, is also involved in the project, alongside Sony.

Suzuki has said the game will be a "full-on Shenmue experience," and initially asked for $2 million in funding to start work on the project.

Within a couple of hours the campaign crossed $1 million mark, and just a few hours later, its funding goal. At the time of writing this it has raised over $3,600,000, with 22 days to go.

Take a look at some of the artwork for the game in the gallery below.