Developer Ys Net has confirmed that the studio has started motion capture work on the hotly anticipated Shenmue 3 for PlayStation 4 and PC.
Writing in an update on Kickstarter, the company revealed that it has begun testing a technology known as Xsens, although it hasn’t decided if it’s sticking with the system for sure yet. Nonetheless, it noted that the tech is handy for its lack of sound interference.
A screenshot of the mo-cap work showcases an individual performing martial arts, presumably for the main protagonist, Ryo Hazuki. Regardless of which technology Ys Net decides to go for, it seems that development is progressing smoothly; however, don’t expect it to show up at E3 this year.
Shenmue 3 is pencilled in for a winter 2017 release on PS4 and PC. The game started out life as a Kickstarter project that was announced during Sony’s E3 2015 press conference. Helmed once again by Yu Suzuki, the sequel went on to raise $6.3 million and continues to gather funds via the Slacker Backer initiative.
The sequel has been rumored for well over a decade now, and was originally believed to be in the works for last-generation consoles. It’s been a long time coming too, as the most recent game in the series, Shenmue II, launched on Dreamcast way back in 2001. An Xbox port followed the next year with full English dialogue.
Shenmue was originally conceived for the Sega Saturn as an action-RPG set in the Virtua Fighter universe.