Shenmue 3 News: Yu Suzuki May Be Looking To Kickstart Sequel

The fan base for the Shenmue series is rabid, but unfortunately fairly small. This, coupled with the lackluster sales numbers of the first two, have made a third entry fairly unlikely, despite how much many gamers want it.

It's been over 12 years since the last Shenmue title, then released on the Dreamcast and original Xbox; and considering the state of affairs over at SEGA, another entry would be entirely out of the question. However, there is a ray of hope. A Tweet posted by Sebstian-Abdelhamid says that Yu Suzuki, the game director of the Shenmue series, is interested in crowdsourcing a third entry. Sebstian is a French TV personality, and is also involved in the Monaco Anime Game Show, making him no stranger to the industry.

The Tweet is in French, but translates to, "Yu Suzuki just said that he is thinking about a Kickstarter to fund the Shenmue 3 development ! #MAGS"

Yu Suzuki déclare penser au Crownfunding type Kickstarter pour financer Shenmue 3 !#MAGS

— Sebastien-Abdelhamid (@SAbdelhamid) March 3, 2013

That is very exciting news for Shenmue fans, considering the recent successes of other Kickstarter game projects. Wasteland 2 by inXile Entertainment, Double Fine's new adventure game, and perhaps most comparable, the third entry in the Longest Journey series, have all successfully raised over a million dollars in development money.

If Shenmue does head to Kickstarter, I honestly feel that the incredibly loyal fan base it has garnered will more than provide for the development costs. Gamers have been waiting for a proper ending to the story for well over a decade, and I know more than a few people who would be willing to throw insane amounts of money at this project to get one.

In either case though, it's still just a rumor at this point. Even if Yu Suzuki is interested in pursuing this option, nothing is official yet, and I'm sure there are more than a few legal hoops to jump through first. Still, if there's any chance at getting a final Shenmue game, I'm all for it and wish the project the best of luck.