Earlier this week, publishing rights for Shenmue 3 were transferred to Inin Games.
Both Inin and Ys Net confirmed the news on November 19, saying this "deepened the relationship" between the two companies. Deep Silver first committed to publishing the crowdfunded action-adventure game in 2017, and it launched two years later on PlayStation 4 and PC.
Ys and Inin previously teamed on 2023's Air Twister, and the collaboration marks the "next phase" of Shenmue 3's lifecycle. In the statement, they said the partnership "marks the beginning of a new chapter. Inin will be working closely alongside Ys Net to honor the series' legacy while ensuring its accessibility to even more fans around the world."
The original Shenmue games released respectively in 1999 and 2001 for the Sega Dreamcast, and were acclaimed for their soundtracks and the ambition of Sega AM2 and director (and producer and writer) Yu Suzuki. In many ways, they were the blueprint for what Ryu Ga Gatoku would do with its own Like a Dragon (née Yakuza) series: players get embroiled in the criminal underworld, freely explore recreations of real-world cities from Japan and China, and fight enemies using brawler mechanics.
Oh, and minigames. Many minigames.
In 2015, Suzuki formally announced Shenmue 3 was in development, and called on the series' fanbase to put their money toward its development. By the end of its Kickstarter period in September 2018, it made $7.18 million, breaking several records on the website in the process.
In 2020, Lars Wingefors, CEO of Deep Silver's parent company Embracer, remarked that Shenmue 3 ultimately did "fine" commercially, but was not expected to be a "mass market game." Both Shenmue 3 and Air Twister are Ys Net's only games. At time of writing, we don't know if this will lead to wholly new Shenmue or a port for current-gen platforms. Shenmue 3 was an Epic Games Store exclusive on PC, and at time of writing, has yet to release on Steam.
However, Inin teased more information would be revealed "soon enough. So if you're interested, watch this space!"
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