Shenmue 4 has yet to be confirmed by creator Yu Suzuki, but the company who aided in the development of Shenmue 3 has suggested the game could very well be on the cards.
Shenmue 4 Could Happen
Lakshya Digital wrote in a Facebook post last month (yes, it’s only now really just been noticed) that it ‘looks forward to working on Shenmue IV very soon.’ Here’s the full post:
Lakshya congratulates YS Net Inc. on the release of Shenmue III. It was an honour for Lakshya to work on this iconic game. Many lucky ones from Lakshya got the opportunity to create 83 characters over a period of almost one year.
It is thanks to the confidence placed in us by Yu Suzuki san, CEO, YS Net Inc, and the entire team, that we could be true partners and provide effective solutions to deliver high quality content at the best value. We look forward to working on Shenmue IV very soon!
Shenmue 3 came out on PlayStation 4 and PC back in November 2019 after an 18-year wait. Read our review on the revenge-driven action-RPG here.
Suzuki-san has mentioned that he’d like to make Shenmue 4 at some point, as it’s clear the series still has some way to go before the story is wrapped up. Whether or not that happens is anyone’s guess – Shenmue 3 didn’t exactly set the charts on fire – but it’s good to know he’ll ‘never give up‘ on the franchise.
The Shenmue franchise launched back in 1999 for the Sega Dreamcast in Japan, and arrived in the US and UK the following year. Shenmue 2 came out in 2001, but only arrived on Dreamcast in the UK and Japan due to the demise of Sega’s console in the US.
Instead, the game was ported to the Xbox in 2002 and later remastered in 2018 for PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One.