Yu Suzuki’s labor of love, the Shenmue series is being resurrected with a new game after nearly 16 years with Shenmue 3. What had started off as a Kickstarter campaign in 2015 went on to become the fastest one of its kind, fetching triple the money that Ys Net had expected within the stipulated time. It comes as no surprise, then, that a title with this kind of potential has attracted one of the biggest video game publishers in the industry.
Deep Silver, the publishers behind games like Dead Island and the upcoming RPG Kingdom Come: Deliverance, has signed on as the publishing partners of Shenmue 3. They will manage the game’s physical and digital release on the PlayStation 4 and PC globally. Deep Silver also has a reputation of bringing widespread recognition to prominent Japanese titles, as the developers point out.
“The Shenmue 3 project has signed a global publishing contract with Deep Silver, the game division of the German company, Koch Media. Game fans may already be familiar with Deep Silver, as they are a trusted brand who has helped many Japanese game titles find their audiences around the world. We are proud to have gained a wonderfully reliable partner to make sure Shenmue 3 reaches all its fans all over the planet,” reads the post on the game’s official website.
Shenmue 3’s announcement back in 2015 was met with much enthusiasm, but we haven’t seen much of the game besides a couple of early trailers and some screenshots. Even E3 2016 was given a sore miss by the devs to focus on the game’s development. However, things are looking much better at present, and Ys Net has assured great things at this year’s Gamescom.
Shenmue 3 was earlier slated for release during the latter part of 2017, but crowd funded projects almost inevitably go through a shift in schedule. You will now be able to play the game on the PS4 and PC sometime during the second half of 2018. A specific date is yet to be announced.
