Shenmue IV Still in Planning Phase, Needs a Partner to Be Made; UE5 Remakes of First Two Games Might Be ‘Fun’

It's been a while since we heard anything about the continuation of the Shenmue series. Back in April 2022, there were some hints that Swiss publisher 110 Industries might be looking to partner with developer YS NET, but that didn't happen after all. Where does Shenmue IV stand right now, then? Series creator Yu Suzuki answered the question himself in a new interview with fan site Shenmue Dojo.

We're not working on that right now. It is still in the planning stage.

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When asked what the project needed to be made, Suzuki's answer was simple: a partner. Unfortunately, it might not be so easy to find one, especially in the current climate where investments are harder to come by. The long-awaited third installment was published by Deep Silver, who later said through Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors that the sales were just 'fine'.

Shortly after the launch of Shenmue III, Yu Suzuki vowed to complete Ryo's story with the help of the saga's fans. As most readers will undoubtedly remember, the third entry was originally funded through a Kickstarter campaign that earned over $6.3 million. To date, Shenmue III is the most funded game ever on the crowdfunding website, but the heydays of crowdfunding are now past us, possibly explaining why Suzuki doesn't just open another campaign for the fourth game.

On that note, the game designer confirmed the next title will be set in China. He also briefly talked about the updated motion capture process:

With Shenmue III, we did a lot of the motion capture using a magnetic sensing system. Motion capture technology is now advanced, so for Shenmue IV we would probably use optical detection. We will do the prototyping here and outsource it for the final. However, there are some things that still need to be done internally. When you hit someone, they're going to get hurt, right? But I want to see that reaction when they get hit.

Intriguingly, Suzuki-san