Shenmue IV Will Happen - Here's Why!

Hello Cedric, with the announcement of Shenmue Anime, do you think possible that Shenmue 4 could be announced at Magic Monaco in 2022? And besides, what did you think of this first trailer?
Hello, the trailer is cool! No announcement at MAGIC 2022 on this subject.
Looks like if Shenmue 4 is announced in 2022, it won't be at Magic.
 
Well if there is a trailer he obviously wouldn't just say that it will be there flat out. It probably won't, but who knows
 
I think Shenmue, despite the divisiveness of the third entry, is still reputable and recognizable enough that Shenmue IV wouldn't be at something like MAGIC.

It'll be at a bigger show, but I think the smart call would be Sony in State Of Play or a PlayStation event. They invested in marketing(and it seems permanent console exclusivity) for III, which seemed to be a net positive for their system and brand awareness of the series.
 


Looks like if Shenmue 4 is announced in 2022, it won't be at Magic.
But what happened to keeping the faith?! :unsure:

But yeah, no way he'd say something 6 months in advance. I'm sure he will be involved in some capacity mind.
 
But what happened to keeping the faith?! :unsure:

But yeah, no way he'd say something 6 months in advance. I'm sure he will be involved in some capacity mind.
Let us remind ourselves that Shenmue 3 was a Kickstarter project that had the partnership of Shibuya Productions and that is why we had presentations at Magic Monaco during the development of the game.
Ys Net might have made or might make a deal in the future with a publisher with or without the support or partnership of Shibuya Productions wich does not mean that Shenmue 4 isn't in development.
 
I think Shenmue, despite the divisiveness of the third entry, is still reputable and recognizable enough that Shenmue IV wouldn't be at something like MAGIC.
This is the correct line.

Also whatever YsNet are working on next is currently in the research/prototyping phase. Unless anybody fancies a long wait for game footage ala Shenmue III, there won't be an announcement for some time.
 
Since the build up to Shenmue 3's release until now, there have been a ton of clues for Shenmue 4's existence. I thought id cover them in this thread and give my own commentary. Feel free to add your own in the following posts

Shenmue 4 Clues In Shenmue 3

Shenmue 4 Book


During the last quest in the castle, Yu Suzuki left a book on the self which says "Shenmue 4". There are also Shenmue 1,2 and 3 books displayed here.

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Shenmue 4 Trainers

At one point in the game, you have to option to buy Shenmue 4 trainers.

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Yu Suzuki's Letter At The End of Shenmue 3

Suzuki continues to make it well known that he wants to make Shenmue 4 and continue the series at the end of the game.

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Yu Suzuki Doing Research In Shanghai For "Work"........(After Shenmue 3's Release) .... ;)

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Taking a close up picture of a sign, a girl in a Chinese dress, a boat and a shop. These are all assets that are displayed in Shenmue. Pressumbly the close up shots can help with design, importing textures into unreal engine and concept art, etc.

Yu Suzuki's Plans For 2020

Yu Suzuki told Famitsu the following when questioned

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This is probably the most obvious hint at Shenmue 4. I can't imagine Suzuki making a completely different open world game. That would make no sense.

Cedric Tweets & Comments

Cedric recently commented that he is happy with Shenmue 3 and we should move on to the next steps with a winky face

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Its obvious to me what he's referring to. And its not his new manga. Although, i do encourage everyone to pick up a copy of Blitz to show support for our favorite hypeman, Cedric.

Cedric also has stated that there is a 50/50 chance for Shenmue 4 even if Shenmue 3 bombed.

Also, in an interview with Sega Satuno, Cedric gives a very indirect, direct, common sense answer to Shenmue 4


Sega Saturno " Would it be more appropriate to develop Shenmue 4 right after the 3rd chapter is released? You have the team already assembled and the necessary experience, along with assets. So maybe it would be best to start the next installment as soon as possible right?""

Cedric "if you plan on doing a 4th installment of a game, you have to keep your team, so you need to start as soon as possible. Otherwise the team would leave and you'd miss your opportunity to make the new game "

All of us have already speculated that if you have the assets, team etc in place, making another installment would be much easier and cheaper, and the most logical thing to do. Cedric confirms this theory.

Lakshya Digital Facebook Post

Lakshya digital (The team who made the Shenmue 3 models) posted the following on December 14th. It could just be a good will message, but when you put it next to all the other evidence we have, I think its obvious what's going on.

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Koch Media Tweets

Koch media posted a very cryptic message the other day. Granted, this could be referring to the DLC as Shenmue 3 is still their game. Time will tell.

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Epic Games Deal, Budget & Sales


Epic Games presumably gave 9 million+ to Deep Silver for Shenmue 3. This is going off how much they paid for the game "Control", an entire new ip. Shenmue 3's total budget was 12 million. If 7 million came from backers and 5 million from investors, then investors would have already made back their money back from the Epic deal. Assuming it was 9 million for exclusive rights, every copy Shenmue 3 sells from release onwards would presumably be profit?

Shenmue 3 appears to be selling decently. When you take into account the limit information we have, along with the total number of backers who purchased a copy in the kickstarter, we can certainly see there is an audience for the game. If it wasn't making any money, you'd have to wonder why they would keep teasing Shenmue 4 so much. The Shenmue HD collection also continues to sell.

Shenmue 3's Story

Shenmue 3's story was incredibly rushed towards the end. Given the perfectionist Yu Suzuki is, i can't imagine him ending his franchise like that, without knowing that a sequel would follow. If he knew Shenmue 3 would be the final game, I'm sure he would have made the ending much more Epic as he did with Shenmue 2. I believe at the time of Shenmue 2, he was told by Sega, that Shenmue 2 would be the last game in the series, hence he went out with a bang.

It also seems odd that Shenmue 3 is a massive build up chapter, with the big payoff yet to come. Its almost like Suzuki is following the same formula as Shenmue 1 and 2.

Shenmue 1 and 3 = Build up chapters
Shnemue 2 and 4 - Bash!t crazy over the top chapters.

Cut Content

There is a ton of cut content from Shenmue 3, mainly Baisha

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In the "A Gamer's Journey" Shenmue teaser trailer, we see Ryo running around a circular building similar to the ones in Baisha. Notice the design of the building and placement of the door in the game, and then compare it to the concept art.

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We also have Ryo jumping off mountains, being chased by rocks and doing some intense QTEs across rocks

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We also have the great wall of China which was only seen at the end of Shenmue 3. In the teaser trailer though, Mr Muscles (First name = Mr, last name - Muscles) and Ryo do battle on this structure. Perhaps its a similar set up to Chai in Chapter 2. Mr Muscles chases Ryo and friends onto the great wall and they have one final battle.

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You can also see the Ryo model in the middle structure of the great wall if you zoom in close. I assume this means the great wall was playable at one point.

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The boat cutscene below is nowhere to be seen in Shenmue 3? You would assume its the boat that takes Ryo and Shenhua to Niaowu, but then i have to wonder why this scene was cut? Perhaps this is the boat that takes our heroes to Baisha? Since Baisha is not in the game, it was cut. Then again, maybe Suzuki thought the scene wasn't appropriate for Niaowu, so he cut it. The boat does look different to the one used in the game, so who knows at this point.

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The point being, there is a ton of content cut from Shenmue 3. I'd be willing to bet we'll see these scenes show up in Shenmue 4, similar to how we saw Shenmue 2 footage in Shenmue 1's promotion. It also seems as if a fair portion of Shenmue 4 already exists, be it concept art, research, beta environments, etc.

We have tons of teases and clues from Suzuki and Cedric. Cut content. Epic's money to secure the publishers investment. Assets, engine and the team already in place. I can't see how Shenmue 4 wont exist. Everything is set up almost perfectly for a sequel to take place.

EDIT: MORE INFO

Here's some additional info that I missed. I'll add it to the op.

1) In an IGN interview, Suzuki stated that he believes he'll be able to make Shenmue 4

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2) Cedric and Yu Suzuki are looking for a bigger budget for Shenmue 4 to meet the standards of the modern market

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3) Famitsu asked Yu Suzuki what his new year's resolution for 2021 was, and he replied with "The Sequel to"

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4) Cedric stated during his Shenmue dojo interview with @spud1897 that there was a Shenmue 4 video being pitched to publishers which had a lot of improvements


5) Ysnet still has their development team working full time and some have speculated that they have moved to another office. (you don't pay a development team millions to keep the lights on if they are not working on something relevant, otherwise they would have disbanded once shenmue 3 was released).

EDIT: Forum member tomboz has added some interesting points to this last statement

"Several of the more experienced people who worked on Shenmue 3 have been credited as having worked on other games since the game’s release, and, given that most games take 2-3 years plus to make, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some of the others are currently working on other projects that are yet to be released.

I was under the impression that most of the technical team who contributed towards Shenmue 3 were contract workers, which is pretty common practice over here and in the industry in general. Also, I’m pretty sure that YSNet has moved to a cheaper office rather than a bigger one, at least if the areas of the previous and new offices are anything to go by, anyway."


Cedric also stated that if you're going to work on a sequel, you want to keep the team together.

Cedric "if you plan on doing a 4th installment of a game, you have to keep your team, so you need to start as soon as possible. Otherwise, the team would leave and you'd miss your opportunity to make the new game "

As far as we know, the team is still together and they have a pitch video for Shenmue 4, meaning Shenmue 4 has 100% been worked on in some capacity. and is most likely being worked on right now

6) The Shenmue Anime is scheduled to be released in 2021. Previous Shenmue announcements have always been in sync with one another (Shenmue HD, Shenmue 3) - Releases linked to new trailers, etc

7) The official Koch media page continues to post about Shenmue. Although they post about a lot of other games, so this is most likely coincidental and should be taken with a massive pinch of salt

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I'll add some more stuff later

Thoughts?
It isn't a matter of why it is a matter of when. I was 21 when I played Shenmue on my DC. I was 23 When I played Shenmue 2 on my Dreamcast I was 41 when I played Shenmue 3 on my PS4. I wish he would just publish a damn book and finish the story. It would be a hell of alot cheaper and quicker. That way he won't have to lose money on making a game as awful as 3 again.
 
It isn't a matter of why it is a matter of when. I was 21 when I played Shenmue on my DC. I was 23 When I played Shenmue 2 on my Dreamcast I was 41 when I played Shenmue 3 on my PS4. I wish he would just publish a damn book and finish the story. It would be a hell of alot cheaper and quicker. That way he won't have to lose money on making a game as awful as 3 again.
3 isn't awful. Sure it's the weakest in the series but it's not awful IMO.

Also all the time it isn't released as a book is all the time there's a chance and he's not given up
 
Also the so repeated "waiting 20 years" is drama. I love the series and there was a point, middle of PS2 lifespan, that S3 was totally was out of the table. With bitter acceptance just played lots of cool games and even forgot about Shenmue being discontinued. It was a Dreamcast relic, period. Until one day, 2015... 😲😍
YS made a miracle that maybe we didn't deserved.
 
Yep. Don't want a book/manga/whatever finishing the series until the moment Yu gives up and determines with certainty that another game is not possible.
The fights were way to easy except for the woman that had magic which totally took away from previous games where it was just hand to hand combat. That right there killed the series for me I had to w8 20+ years for that garbage not to mention it only felt like a ghost of its predecessors. Who was the woman that had magic? what is her role to the Chi You Men? At the end of the game I felt like I was watching the ending to the Sound of Music. At least the game didn't end with a cliffhanger like 2 did. The game was so bad I dont even remember any of the storyline
 
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The fights were way to easy except for the woman that had magic which totally took away from previous games where it was just hand to hand combat. That right there killed the series for me I had to w8 20+ years for that garbage not to mention it only felt like a ghost of its predecessors. Who was the woman that had magic? At the end of the game I felt like I was watching the ending to the Sound of Music. At least the game didn't end with a cliffhanger like 2 did. The game was so bad I dont even remember any of the storyline
That's your subjetive opinion. For me Shenmue 3 was the answer to my prayers relating a martial arts rpg which didn't see since Shaolin/Lords of Fist (PSX!). Visually outstanding specially with quarter the budget of its predecessors. Engaging characters and story. Yu Suzuki handprint really noticiable overall.
I even felt more attached to Ryo than before, lost in China countryside and "emptying our cup" of martial knowledge from straight and strong Hazuki style to circular and gracious chinese styles.
Love the minigames or sidequests like picking herbs, cooking, fishing, a live economy system unlike S1&2...
IMO the series is done
IMO Shenmue IV is already finished, 99%, AI development assisted but the hands of every character are screwed so that require some time to fix. And Yu-san can't state "we did everything but the hands are AI screwed".

And once more, nobody has been refreshing websites 20 years for Shenmue 3, cmon thats not true.
 
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IMO Shenmue IV is already finished, 99%, AI development assisted but the hands of every character are screwed so that require some time to fix. And Yu-san can't state "we did everything but the hands are AI screwed".
If there isn't documentation then there isn't any proof
 
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