Shenmue III

Shenmue III is an action-adventure game released in 2019, developed by Ys Net and published by Deep Silver for PlayStation 4 and Windows. Players control teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki as he continues his quest to find his father’s killer, now set in the mountains of Guilin, China, during the 1980s. The gameplay follows the series’ pattern: an open world with brawler fights, quick time events, a day-night cycle, changing weather, NPCs with daily routines, and various minigames. Ryo can earn money through gambling, fishing, wood chopping, forklift driving, and selling foraged herbs. A new stamina system gradually reduces Ryo’s hit points while exploring; if too low, he cannot sprint, but can recover by sleeping or eating.

Director Yu Suzuki originally planned Shenmue as a multi-game saga. The first two entries, developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Dreamcast in 1999 and 2001, were critically praised and gained a cult following but sold poorly. The original Shenmue was the most expensive game ever made at the time, though that budget also covered parts of Shenmue II and groundwork for future titles.

After years of speculation, Suzuki launched a Kickstarter campaign at E3 2015 to crowdfund Shenmue III, with Sega licensing the property to his company Ys Net. It became the fastest campaign to reach $2 million, doing so in under seven hours, and ended the following month with over $6 million, then the highest-funded video game on Kickstarter. Additional funding came from Sony, Deep Silver, and other crowdfunding platforms. The development team was much smaller than for earlier games, though key original staff returned. The game was built using Unreal Engine 4.

Released on November 19, 2019—18 years after Shenmue II—Shenmue III received mixed reviews. Some critics appreciated its faithfulness to the series, while others considered it outdated. Retail sales were low, but this figure excluded digital sales and copies sent to Kickstarter backers. The CEO of Deep Silver’s parent company, Embracer Group, described the game’s financial performance as “fine.” An enhanced version for newer platforms is planned for late 2026. Suzuki has expressed hope to develop Shenmue IV.

The plot begins in 1987, with Ryo arriving in Guilin, China, to find Lan Di, his father’s killer.