Shenmue III: Confirmed or Not?

Impossible to say for sure, but here's what we know about Shenmue III and the likelihood of development work having started.

Following the news that Sega's development studios have been restructured, with Yu Suzuki promoted to board level and Hiroshi Kataoka taking the President's seat at AM2, fresh speculation has emerged that work on Shenmue III has been started.

Whether or not that's actually true, is something the jury's still out on. You may remember that back in May, Yu Suzuki was asked what the score is with Shenmue III - and he said that development could begin "immediately, were Sega to give the project the go-ahead."

Only non-technical, planning-related work has taken place on Shenmue III so far - i.e., the story, the character designs, etc. However, the project is certainly in a more positive light than two months ago.

As such - although nothing has been officially confirmed, the latest speculation indicates that Shenmue III has indeed been given the go-ahead at Sega (which was really just a matter of time) and that work has started proper.

It was recently confirmed by AM2's Shin Ishikawa that Shenmue III will include the remaining 16 'chapters' of the game, in order to wrap up the huge Shenmue project. This compares with just one 'chapter' dedicated in the original Shenmue game, and four chapters in Shenmue II.

Since we're completely obsessive about the Shenmue series, you can expect every last drop of detail that comes our way. Some kind of announcement is rumoured for the Tokyo Games Show this September.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com