Legendary game designer and Virtua Fighter creator Yu Suzuki retired from Sega back in 2011, but he still hasn’t given up on finishing his most ambitious project: in an interview with French journalist Sebastien-Abdelhamid, Suzuki said he’s thinking about using Kickstarter to fund development of the long awaited Shenmue 3.
Abdelhamid spoke to Suzuki at the Monaco Anime & Game Show convention, which just wrapped up today. According to Abdelhamid, Suzuki said that he’d also like to continue Shenmue’s story with a manga or anime series as well.
Fans have been waiting for a resolution to Shenmue 2’s mysterious cliffhanger ending ever since 2001, and after a few failed attempts at reinventing the series as an MMO and a casual game, it seemed like the Shenmue series was finally done for. The original Shenmue was the most expensive game that Sega ever produced, and while the game managed to cultivate a small but extremely dedicated fan base, the game was never the sales blockbuster that Sega needed it to be. Shenmue 2 was also met with tepid sales upon its release, and Sega has been hesitant to continue the series ever since.
I almost don’t want to get my hopes up now since rumors about Shenmue 3 have been circulating for the better part of the last decade, but I still can’t help but get giddy at the possibility that we may finally see a proper conclusion to Ryo Hazuki’s quest soon. While Suzuki’s other attempts at re-launching the franchise never got off the ground, hopefully he’ll manage to get Shenmue 3 made this time.
Source: Polygon
