110 Industries have been teasing Shenmue IV a lot lately

[WuyingRen]

Nioa Sun is a secondary antagonist, she doesn't need as much time to develop as Shenhua, making that comparison.

Ziming could be a gang leader, CYM lieutenant, in the town near the cliff temple, his face is on the same art work page as the cliff temple, the opening act of Shenmue IV could a good place to introduce him, but it doesn't need to be 1.1 there are a lot of ways to write it.

Wait. Didn’t you just suggest that there only needed to be two CYM leaders and that the Niao Sun Lan Di conflict could serve as an end point for the series? If that’s the case, wouldn’t that make her and Lan Di the game’s two primary antagonists? Heck, if they’re not going to bother delving too deeply into the source of Shenhua’s powers, that would actually make Niao Sun more important than Shenhua and thus much more deserving of deeper characterization, right?

I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. It’s kind of irrelevant though really, as last we heard the plan was still to make five or six games.

 

[Seaman]

Hopefully Suzuki says yes to another live Q&A

funny western guy: Lets do a victory dance..
japanese samurais: ... We don't do this

edit: just to be clear, I totally support the guy's dance. He's expressing his emotions like I probably would. But there's an undeniable micro cultural clash in that gif. The dude in the middle draws a shy smile but... Master Yu is like "...jigoku?"
you can see the interrogation marks floating over his head

 

[Demon's Triangle]

Wait. Didn’t you just suggest that there only needed to be two CYM leaders and that the Niao Sun Lan Di conflict could serve as an end point for the series? If that’s the case, wouldn’t that make her and Lan Di the game’s two primary antagonists? Heck, if they’re not going to bother delving too deeply into the source of Shenhua’s powers, that would actually make Niao Sun more important than Shenhua and thus much more deserving of deeper characterization, right?

I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. It’s kind of irrelevant though really, as last we heard the plan was still to make five or six games.

Imo the main antagonist is either Lan Di or Tentei. Tentei might be Yuanda Zhu if it's twist villain, who is more than he appears, secretly manipulating events, a character we've already been kind of introduced to, I think that could make a lot of dramatic sense but not everyone buys it, and that's another argument.

I think Sun's uprising, war with Lan Di's loyalists could be an exciting way to set the tone, the stage of the final game, but I don't think she's really as important as a few other characters mentioned. I think she's probably, ultimately a mad dog who gets herself killed much earlier on than whoever the main antagonist is, whether it's Lan Di until the end or the true leader of the CYM.

 

[Telekill]

Lots of back and forth from people hoping the 4th gives us an ending vs wanting to take on the risk of never having one.

I think it's safe to say that the best case scenario for everyone here in the Dojo would be (as suggested earlier) that 110 announce not only S4 but that they've signed YS up for the 5th as well in order to finish the series closer to how Yu wanted it initially. I don't think we're going to be that lucky, but I believe that's the best case scenario that we can hope for.

 

[thedemon1238]

I will choose two more games without ending of the story any day, than one game with rushed final. The path is always more important than the destination. Many good movies have open endings, that let the viewer to deside how the story will end. Everything is better than rushed final.

Also I don't think that one big publisher will throw money for one time only game. They're are searching for success... Something to capitalize at least 5-10 years.

 

[Rikitatsu]

I don't get people wanting Shenmue 4 to end the story, unless you're okay with Ryo going from getting his cheeks clapped by Lan Di in Shenmue 3, to beating him in 4...

Maybe there should be a Shenmue 3 director cut where they retcon the parts where he losses to street gang leaders, and maybe show some resistance to Lan Di in their fight.

The other solution is if Shenmue 4 would be a 100 hour epic.

Otherwise, I can't see ending it in 4 being satisfactory at all

 

[Kyo_JP]

For me the most difficult thing from a publisher perspective is how much will it cost to do 1 or 2 games and what sells it will need for the publisher to make the money espent worth it. I know that in this case there is more value to 110 than raw sales, but just thing of any other publisher:
- If you announce IV and V at the same time why people should buy IV on Day 1 (besides us fans)
- If you announce IV but not V why people should buy an entry of a franchise that could never be finished
- How much do you need and how much that will increase the sales with a higher scope game that you can sell as "final entry"
I will take any Shenmue game, but there is a lot legit questions from a publisher point of view

 

[XPOINTED]

It is so weird that S4 rumor keep update every day, just like someone want fans to promote S4 more than before.
I start to get a little bit annoyed by these rumor until S4 finally announced

 

[Seaman]

I don't get people wanting Shenmue 4 to end the story, unless you're okay with Ryo going from getting his cheeks clapped by Lan Di in Shenmue 3, to beating him in 4...

Maybe there should be a Shenmue 3 director cut where they retcon the parts where he losses to street gang leaders, and maybe show some resistance to Lan Di in their fight.

The other solution is if Shenmue 4 would be a 100 hour epic.

Otherwise, I can't see ending it in 4 being satisfactory at all

That's quite a point. I dare to speak for many fans that plotwise what we always have desired is watching at least Ryo and some more main cast to get older in the story. Im not talking about a big time lapse, like decades (while this also results me attractive) but maybe set Ryo's revenge (?) and Lan Di deadly final fight (?) in a course of 3-5 ingame years chasing him over Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand and even America. Im prudent enough to not waiting for this scenario happening but finally getting a "tatata travel to china tatata gatcha lan di!" would be a dissapoinment.

 

[WuyingRen]

For me the most difficult thing from a publisher perspective is how much will it cost to do 1 or 2 games and what sells it will need for the publisher to make the money espent worth it. I know that in this case there is more value to 110 than raw sales, but just thing of any other publisher:
- If you announce IV and V at the same time why people should buy IV on Day 1 (besides us fans)
- If you announce IV but not V why people should buy an entry of a franchise that could never be finished
- How much do you need and how much that will increase the sales with a higher scope game that you can sell as "final entry"
I will take any Shenmue game, but there is a lot legit questions from a publisher point of view

A publisher typically takes somewhere between $20 and $30 from a $60 sale. With the kind of budget Yu is asking for, a fourth Shenmue game would need to sell around a million units at full price for the publisher to recoup its investment. Certainly doable, but I’d be surprised to see anybody publicly committing to making two games rather than one with that in mind.

That said, I’d imagine that Yu will be given assurances that a budget for a fifth game would be made available if Shenmue 4 hits certain targets.

 

[Tosh]

I mean thats pretty much how any Publisher works.
Sonys Days Gone didnt reach the sales numbers they wanted -> no Days Gone 2.
But it can also turn into something thats just way too big in terms of budget
so the publisher calls it quits -> Metal Gear Solid / Phantom Pain
Deep Silver would have been interested in funding Shenmue 4 if Shenmue 3 would have sold very very very well.
They knew at all times that Shenmue 3 isnt going to complete the Shenmue story.
Lets say Shenmue 4 completely underperforms with a 12, 15, 18 Mil USD budget and 110 Industries steps back,
it will be a hardcore difficult challenge to get someone who is willing to fund Shenmue 5.
(on the same budget level)

 

[Seaman]

I mean thats pretty much how any Publisher works.
Sonys Days Gone didnt reach the sales numbers they wanted -> no Days Gone 2.
But it can also turn into something thats just way too big in terms of budget
so the publisher calls it quits -> Metal Gear Solid / Phantom Pain
Deep Silver would have been interested in funding Shenmue 4 if Shenmue 3 would have sold very very very well.
They knew at all times that Shenmue 3 isnt going to complete the Shenmue story.
Lets say Shenmue 4 completely underperforms with a 12, 15, 18 Mil USD budget and 110 Industries steps back,
it will be a hardcore difficult challenge to get someone who is willing to fund Shenmue 5.

Damn this solid argumentation burst my magic thinking.stay away from me.leave me aloone

 

[Demon's Triangle]

I don't get people wanting Shenmue 4 to end the story, unless you're okay with Ryo going from getting his cheeks clapped by Lan Di in Shenmue 3, to beating him in 4...

Maybe there should be a Shenmue 3 director cut where they retcon the parts where he losses to street gang leaders, and maybe show some resistance to Lan Di in their fight.

The other solution is if Shenmue 4 would be a 100 hour epic.

Otherwise, I can't see ending it in 4 being satisfactory at all

There are some useful seeds in the story, to help Ryo evolve his abilities, like the fabled hidden scroll and unpractised demon's traingle move. But Ryo can learn a certain amount of Bajiquan abilities from martial masters or whatever, on top of those, and we know that's not the point. Ryo should triumph over his ultimate adversary when he is in a certain state of mind and perhaps no longer wants his vengeance, when the dynamic has shifted and Lan Di is the one who can't escape the spectre of his father, or Chi You, has clouded his better judgement, beginning his undoing.

The story is potentially in a really interesting place as Lan Di is losing his power within the organisation, he's experienced betrayal, alienation, and soon he and Ryo might find out this crusade to avenge Sunming, had been incited by the origination who had took him under his wing. There's a lot of dramatic swerves that could happen in IV that could make for a good conclusion. Ryo is primarily headed towards the cliff temple where Lan Di is presumed to be, a new revelation and shift in their adversary could begin.

 

[Tosh]

For a realistic viewpoint, you always have to look at it from both sides, the creator part and the funding part.
Why would any company give away 8, 12, 15, 20 mil USD if your product doesnt meet the requirements to make it work?
Its not charity. They are gonna be your best friends as long as you bring them all of their money back.
They are not gonna support you on a 15, 20, 30 mil USD budget level just because they think you are pretty cool.
Sure, lets get Sega on board and somehow they are willing to give Shenmue 4 another try with 30 mil USD,
but you can be sure, if the money just vanishes and they dont get it all back,
they will leave the Shenmue ship immediately again.

 

[Peter]

In regards to Wanted: Dead being a new IP, and Shenmue being an established franchise, this possibly answers why Shenmue appeals to them:

At the same time, 110 Industries reported that in 2022 the founders changed their strategy: now money is attracted mainly to the parent company and the practice of project financing (in separate games) is gradually ending.

We begin to attract investment only after we have fully worked out the concept of the product: characters are ready, dialogues, calculation of the cost of production. One stage takes up to a year, "said co-founder of 110 Industries Sergey Kolobashkin.

 

[Jobi14119]

Just had this notification on twitter can you guess who the like is from lol I just want them to spill the beans and stop being so mysterious like the chi you men. They're on a "liking spree" again on twitter currently regarding the shenmue rumours. They've liked 3 of my tweets plus more articles surrounding their supposed association with a possible shenmue IV. I really genuinely hope they can come through with this. 🤞

 

[Dietsoap]

Hopefully Suzuki says yes to another live Q&A

So Yu is a grape guy, huh? Interesting...

 

[shadowreaper]

In regards to Wanted: Dead being a new IP, and Shenmue being an established franchise, this possibly answers why Shenmue appeals to them:

So it sounds like preproduction would have to be complete before they shop it around to investors according to that model Kolobashkin is talking about.

 

[Shadow2222]

I’m going through the stages of anxiety/acceptance/anger daily lol. “It’s really happening” to “Maybe they are just fans of Shenmue and liking every post to support it?” to “They better not be just doing this as a marketing stunt, I’ll be so ticked” lol

 

[Jobi14119]

I’m going through the stages of anxiety/acceptance/anger daily lol. “It’s really happening” to “Maybe they are just fans of Shenmue and liking every post to support it?” to “They better not be just doing this as a marketing stunt, I’ll be so ticked” lol

You and me both bud you and me both. Straight to anger management for me if this is a publicity stunt 😂