IGN: Yu Suzuki Talks Shenmue 4, Air Twister, and 40 Years of Game Development

Yeah, I see some folks saying things like, “we waited 18 years for Shenmue 3, so 4 years of no news is nothing!”, but this series struck lightning with Shenmue 3 and the kickstarter. It absolutely cannot withstand another wait anywhere near that. I am already really worried and think it is a very bad sign that we haven’t heard anything (and it sounds like nothing is currently happening). I don’t want to be repetitive, but they need to finish the story very soon. It is amazing that this series still has fans that have stuck with them for 25 years already. They can’t ask us for much more. I barely play video games anymore and I’m probably not alone. If they haven’t found funding yet, I don’t know how waiting makes this more attractive for investors.
 
spud1897 said:
I don't want to prod the fires of worry but I am also in the camp of by the end of 2024 we need to hear something or I am going to br worried.
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It make sense after all, an announcement in 2024 means we can still get Shenmue 4 during THIS generation (PS5), and with a little luck there is time also for Shenmue 5 if they are wise and make is as one big project to it after 1-2 years (like shenmue 1->2).

But later than 2024 means trouble, we cannot miss this generation of console, the gap would become too big for
audience (we are all getting old and other fans barely play games now),
time (it's already 5 years since shenmue 3...)
and technology (assets are now ready and still fresh for both UE4 and UE5).

The time is now.
 
Suzaku said:
It make sense after all, an announcement in 2024 means we can still get Shenmue 4 during THIS generation (PS5), and with a little luck there is time also for Shenmue 5 if they are wise and make is as one big project to it after 1-2 years (like shenmue 1->2).

But later than 2024 means trouble, we cannot miss this generation of console, the gap would become too big for
audience (we are all getting old and other fans barely play games now),
time (it's already 5 years since shenmue 3...)
and technology (assets are now ready and still fresh for both UE4 and UE5).

The time is now.
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I agree
 
shadowreaper said:
I wonder if we as a community should have a line in the sand and after that just try to get the Shenmue story told in some other medium like a manga or book.
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I wouldn’t want that let’s keep our faith and hope for a definite shenmue 4 and a probably shenmue 5
 
Based on all the evidence @ShenSun collected on the Shenmue IV Will Happen thread, I'm pretty confident it's being worked on.

A couple of standouts for me:
  • Cedric said they had an early test build of Shenmue 4 which they were pitching to publishers as far back as Q4 2020.
  • YS Net has since expanded its offices to 2 floors...after Shenmue 3, that expansion can't all be for mobile games.
  • Suzuki said in 2020 that he'll be using his knowledge of Shenmue 3 to create a new open-world game. In 2021, he also said he'd next be focusing on a "shooting" project (Air Twister) and "the sequel to..." the latter of which we're still yet to see.
I also forget which article this was from, but I vaguely remember there was an interview these last few years where Suzuki said something about YS Net alternating between bigger and smaller-scale projects. So for instance, they would work on a big project (Shenmue 3), then a smaller one (Air Twister), and then a big one again. I'm pretty certain I didn't dream that, but just can't find the article. If that is right though, then the only next large-scale project that makes sense after Air Twister would be Shenmue 4.
 
Revan said:
Based on all the evidence @ShenSun collected on the Shenmue IV Will Happen thread, I'm pretty confident it's being worked on.

A couple of standouts for me:
  • Cedric said they had an early test build of Shenmue 4 which they were pitching to publishers as far back as Q4 2020.
  • YS Net has since expanded its offices to 2 floors...after Shenmue 3, that expansion can't all be for mobile games.
  • Suzuki said in 2020 that he'll be using his knowledge of Shenmue 3 to create a new open-world game. In 2021, he also said he'd next be focusing on a "shooting" project (Air Twister) and "the sequel to..." the latter of which we're still yet to see.
I also forget which article this was from, but I vaguely remember there was an interview these last few years where Suzuki said something about YS Net alternating between bigger and smaller-scale projects. So for instance, they would work on a big project (Shenmue 3), then a smaller one (Air Twister), and then a big one again. I'm pretty certain I didn't dream that, but just can't find the article. If that is right though, then the only next large-scale project that makes sense after Air Twister would be Shenmue 4.
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There's a lot of stuff i've missed out on and not updated. I need to update the thread at some point
 
This picture is getting more funnier over the time, but doesn't it make you curious who the publisher would be? Since it's more than clear that probability for Sammy-SEGA is low, Deep Silver is totaly out of question and it's hardly 110 industries... Who is the brave publisher of Shenmue 4? :D
 
thedemon1238 said:
This picture is getting more funnier over the time, but doesn't it make you curious who the publisher would be? Since it's more than clear that probability for Sammy-SEGA is low, Deep Silver is totaly out of question and it's hardly 110 industries... Who is the brave publisher of Shenmue 4? :D
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Let's go with these guys :p

logo-1.png
 
japalp said:
Yeah, I see some folks saying things like, “we waited 18 years for Shenmue 3, so 4 years of no news is nothing!”, but this series struck lightning with Shenmue 3 and the kickstarter. It absolutely cannot withstand another wait anywhere near that.
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For the record, I wasn't claiming it could withstand another 18 year wait. I am also in the camp that if we don't hear anything by the end of 2024, then we need to worry. By then it would have been just over 5 years, still considerably less than the 18 year wait for 3.

And "struck lightning" is a little bit disrespectful to all the fans and social media accounts who kept shouting loudly over the course of those 18 years. I'd like to think we had a big hand in Yu Suzuki picking it up and going the Kickstarter route. And we're still out there doing it for Shenmue 4 every month with the tweetathon today to see the series continued.
 
Sonoshee said:
For the record, I wasn't claiming it could withstand another 18 year wait. I am also in the camp that if we don't hear anything by the end of 2024, then we need to worry. By then it would have been just over 5 years, still considerably less than the 18 year wait for 3.

And "struck lightning" is a little bit disrespectful to all the fans and social media accounts who kept shouting loudly over the course of those 18 years. I'd like to think we had a big hand in Yu Suzuki picking it up and going the Kickstarter route. And we're still out there doing it for Shenmue 4 every month with the tweetathon today to see the series continued.
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Not sure how I was being disrespectful to the fans at all. In fact, by saying we struck lightning, I am talking about the fan effort and funding to get Shenmue 3 made. We did all we could. They have come out and said that the 4th wouldn’t be crowdfunded.

I find it a little funny being called disrespectful by someone whose general “tone” to almost everyone who says anything remotely critical about the games or the way the IP is being handled is one of having no patience or tolerance for it. I think you should look in the mirror a little bit.

Having said that, I respect yours and everyone else’s opinion even though I may completely disagree with them. We are all Shenmue fans so I prefer to focus on what brings us together.
 
Sonoshee said:
For the record, I wasn't claiming it could withstand another 18 year wait. I am also in the camp that if we don't hear anything by the end of 2024, then we need to worry. By then it would have been just over 5 years, still considerably less than the 18 year wait for 3.

And "struck lightning" is a little bit disrespectful to all the fans and social media accounts who kept shouting loudly over the course of those 18 years. I'd like to think we had a big hand in Yu Suzuki picking it up and going the Kickstarter route. And we're still out there doing it for Shenmue 4 every month with the tweetathon today to see the series continued.
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I’m inclined to believe that we only got Shenmue 3
japalp said:
Not sure how I was being disrespectful to the fans at all. In fact, by saying we struck lightning, I am talking about the fan effort and funding to get Shenmue 3 made. We did all we could. They have come out and said that the 4th wouldn’t be crowdfunded.

I find it a little funny being called disrespectful by someone whose general “tone” to almost everyone who says anything remotely critical about the games or the way the IP is being handled is one of having no patience or tolerance for it. I think you should look in the mirror a little bit.

Having said that, I respect yours and everyone else’s opinion even though I may completely disagree with them. We are all Shenmue fans so I prefer to focus on what brings us together.
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I’m already worried. We passed the point of worrying at least a year ago.

What happened with Shenmue 3 is we got lucky that there was a video game Kickstarter fad in the mid 2010s and Shenmue 3 got swept into it.

The reality is Shenmue 3 was never announced in the traditional sense. Due to the kickstarter fad they said “okay we will make it if the fans are willing to pay for it”. It was just an experiment. While the Kickstarter was more than successful in the end what we got was a mixed review game that split the fan base.

Shenmue no longer has as much goodwill or mystic behind it and I can’t see anyone wanting to invest in it save for the fans pulling together the money on our own.

It’s been 4 full years now….. nearly the same length of time between GOW 2018 and Ragnorak releases. And not only do we not have Shenmue 4 we don’t even have an announcement yet.

I would love to be dead wrong here but if Shenmue 4 was actually being worked on surely they would have at least announced it at this point??

Even if they started working on Shenmue 4 tomorrow it would mean a decade wait between S3 and S4.

Sorry to be negative, please someone with more faith than me convince me that Shenmue 4 is being worked on right now.
 
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japalp said:
Not sure how I was being disrespectful to the fans at all. In fact, by saying we struck lightning, I am talking about the fan effort and funding to get Shenmue 3 made. We did all we could. They have come out and said that the 4th wouldn’t be crowdfunded.

I find it a little funny being called disrespectful by someone whose general “tone” to almost everyone who says anything remotely critical about the games or the way the IP is being handled is one of having no patience or tolerance for it. I think you should look in the mirror a little bit.

Having said that, I respect yours and everyone else’s opinion even though I may completely disagree with them. We are all Shenmue fans so I prefer to focus on what brings us together.
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By saying we struck lightning, you're meaning we got lucky. We didn't. We worked hard and it paid off.

As for my "tone", is it hardly surprising with the amount of negativity around here from certain people? Either you want to focus on what "brings us together" or you want to be negative. Pick a side.

"It is amazing that this series still has fans that have stuck with them for 25 years" isn't what I would call bringing us together.

Getting worried about not getting a Shenmue 4 is understandable, but at the same time isn't going to get us anywhere. We keep plugging away.
 
I’m surprised to see people so easily write off the future of the series when about a week ago Yu Suzuki was not only talking about a Shenmue 4 but a Shenmue 0. Even the last Tomb Raider game (Shadow of the Tomb Raider) was 5 years ago (2018) with no new game other than a remaster collection announced. For all you neysayers are concerned, Shenmue 4 could have been worked on for the last 4 years. Who knows. The good thing this time around is Yu Suzuki is keeping his cards close to his chest, last time they started announcing and showing things too early it got slaughtered by the media. If I was in their shoes I would have learnt from that situation and would make sure whatever I show to the general public or announce is near the best that it can be to stop giving people easy negative clickbait from the off-set. Be excited that he’s even talking about Shenmue 4, and has shared some of his ideas, that’s certainly a positive sign - it’s something clearly in his thoughts.
 
James Brown said:
I’m surprised to see people so easily write off the future of the series when about a week ago Yu Suzuki was not only talking about a Shenmue 4 but a Shenmue 0. Even the last Tomb Raider game (Shadow of the Tomb Raider) was 5 years ago (2018) with no new game other than a remaster collection announced. For all you neysayers are concerned, Shenmue 4 could have been worked on for the last 4 years. Who knows. The good thing this time around is Yu Suzuki is keeping his cards close to his chest, last time they started announcing and showing things too early it got slaughtered by the media. If I was in their shoes I would have learnt from that situation and would make sure whatever I show to the general public or announce is near the best that it can be to stop giving people easy negative clickbait from the off-set. Be excited that he’s even talking about Shenmue 4, and has shared some of his ideas, that’s certainly a positive sign - it’s something clearly in his thoughts.
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This sums up my thoughts
 
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