ININ Games has acquired the publishing rights for the popular game Shenmue III, and they have exciting plans for the future of the series. They expressed their honor in carrying the Shenmue torch forward and mentioned that the story of Shenmue is far from over. The company also announced their intentions to celebrate the series’ 25th anniversary and Shenmue III’s fifth anniversary with more details to come.
Originally scheduled for release in 2017, Shenmue III faced multiple delays before finally debuting in November 2019 for PS4 and PC. The game later released on Steam in November 2020. The Shenmue series, developed by SEGA, began with the first game in 1999 and continued with Shenmue II in 2000 and an Xbox version in 2002. The series was initially planned as a trilogy, and a collection of Shenmue I & II was released in 2018 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
In addition to the game series, Crunchyroll and Adult Swim collaborated to produce Shenmue the Animation, an anime adaptation of Yū Suzuki’s Shenmue game series. The anime premiered in February 2022 and was well-received by fans. Shenmue creator Suzuki and YS-Net also released a game titled Air Twister for iOS devices on Apple Arcade in 2022.
With the acquisition of Shenmue III’s publishing rights, fans can look forward to more exciting developments in the Shenmue series. Stay tuned for updates on how ININ Games plans to celebrate the iconic series and its beloved characters as they continue to carry the Shenmue legacy forward.
