
For Shenmue III, it probably pretty much is a last resort. Sega wouldn't fund it, MS wouldn't fund it (Shenmue II on Xbox, which was backed by MS, tanked). Sony and Ys Net wanted some kind of guarantee that the investment would be worthwhile. And when you get down to it, it is a niche game. E3 is honestly kind of a meaningless, empty spectacle in the grand scheme of things. When it comes down to it, FF7 Remake is guaranteed to far outsell Shenmue III when those products actually make it to release, because that game had a massive fanbase to begin with.
So as long as they aren't selling drugs or running prostitution rings to fund the game, I'm cool with them doing what it takes. :) And ironically, it's one of the few Kickstarter projects I am willing to back precisely because Sony co-backing it means it has a better chance of actually coming out than most KS projects seem to do these days.