It’s been over 15 years since Shenmue 2, but Shenmue 3 is coming. Here’s all the info including the release date, price, and platforms.
Shenmue 3 was one of the many new games announced at E3 2015, though one of the few to be announced on stage with a Kickstarter campaign. That Kickstarter turned out to be one of the most successful ever, raising more than $6.3 million, proving the huge fan demand.
Shenmue 2, originally on the Deamcast, was released way back in 2001, but developer Ys Net secured the official rights to the Shenmue 3 license from Sega. The open world action RPG will be built with the Unreal 4 engine following the story of Ryo Hazuki as he tried to find his father’s killer.
Shenmue 3 will have familiar elements from its predecessors plus new fight mechanics as the developer aims to achieve a new level of interactive storytelling. “Our ambition is to deliver a Shenmue experience that will draw in newcomers to the series and reward diehard fans with its deep story and rich gameplay.”
H ere’s what we know so far about the Shenmue 3 release date, price, platforms, and more.
With the Kickstarter surpassing its $2m target extremely quickly (in just 9 hours) , the game officially entered development in July 2015, with a planned release date of December 2017.
Unfortunately, fans will have to wait even longer than that, as in June 2017 the developers announced a delay until the second half of 2018. While some fans worried it wouldn’t reach the US and UK, publisher Deep Silver came onboard the game in August 2017 – with a good track record on bringing relatively niche Japanese series like Yakuza to the West, it’s a good sign that we can expect a release over here.
The development team at Ys Net say the Shenmue 3 release date is ‘within reach’ but warns that it could move.
“We unfortunately must delay its release, ” designer Yu Suzuki said. “By utilising new technologies we have been able to discover new possibilities and expressions. In many ways the game has become bigger and more beautiful than I initially expected. We do, however, need more time to deliver the game to you.”
Shenmue 3 is in development for PC and PS4. That’s not to say it won’t come to other platforms, though, with the developer saying “other platforms have not been decided yet.”
If you want to pre-order a copy, you can still do so through Kickstarter. A digital copy on either platform is currently $29, while a physical version costs $60, and there are various other tiers and backer bonuses available, including T-shirts, an art book, and the chance to be featured in the credits.
Despite the fact that the game was first announced two years ago, there isn’t actually a single full trailer for Shenmue 3 yet. That isn’t to say there’s nothing you can watch of the game in action though.
The best place to start is the original Kickstarter campaign video, which shows off some early game footage and illustrates the developers’ vision for the game.
You can also see another early game environment in action in this brief video:
If you want to see more from the game, the best bet is to head to the Shenmue 3 YouTube channel, which contains a selection of videos created for the Kickstarter campaign, or follow the Kickstarter Updates for more recent footage.
