The info gathered by @mjqjazzbar and a few other posters:
-There's a fan project called Shenmue World that has yet to be properly announced.
-The YsNet website has been updated for the first time in years
-Koch Media is opening up a branch in Japan
-There's the Crunchy Roll Expo this Saturday, and the rumor is we'll be hearing about the project on Saturday. This makes an anime series being the most likely scenario given the information that we have.
-Shibuya Productions is possibly involved
The info from Golem:
-It's not Shenmue 4
-It's not a port of Shenmue 1,2, 3
-It's something entirely brand new.
-It's more than a book series or a documentary.
-It's not being kickstarted, already funded.
-Whatever it is will NOT invalidate Shenmue IV in any way.
Maybe it's not *just* an anime, or *just* a game, but an anime to release in tandem with a smaller game release? I'm just trying to piece together the "missing piece" that ShenSun hinted at. And since whatever it is won't breach into Shenmue IV territory I think it would exist to try to branch out the story to a new audience through other forms of media and can help Shenmue IV get developed.
I think "something *entirely* brand new" would rule out a remaster or directors cut of Shenmue 1, 2 , or 3, even though I would personally want those over anything besides a new game installment.
Maybe they did some sort of marketing research and thought that expecting a newcomer to play through Shenmue 1, 2, and 3 might be too daunting if they want to jump into a potential Shenmue 4? Perhaps an anime series could allow someone to get caught up in the story in a few hours instead of 40-60?