Earlier this week, the publishing rights for Shenmue 3 were transferred to Inin Games.
Both Inin and Ys Net confirmed the news on November 19 and said the move has “deepened” their relationship. Deep Silver committed to publishing the crowdfunded action-adventure game in 2017. The title launched two years later on PlayStation 4 and PC.
Ys and Inin previously teamed on 2023’s Air Twister and said their latest collaboration marks the “next phase” of Shenmue 3’s lifecycle. In a statement shared online (via Wario64), the duo spoke of beginning 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,” adds the statement.
The original Shenmue games released for the Sega Dreamcast in 1999 and 2001, respectively, 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.
Shenmue 3’s long journey
In 2015, Suzuki formally announced Shenmue 3 was in development and called on fans to help finance production via Kickstarter. By the end of that crowdfunding campaign in September 2018, the project had made a (then) record-breaking $7.18 million.
In 2020, Lars Wingefors, CEO of Deep Silver’s parent company Embracer, remarked that Shenmue 3 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.
Inin teased more information will be revealed “soon enough.”