Shenmue 4 might have just been teased, barely two years after Shenmue 3

Knowing Shenmue, it might just launch by 2040.

After Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki appeared during 110 Industries’ 2021 Tokyo Game Show presentation, fans were left questioning what his appearance might’ve meant for the franchise.

Now, things are all starting to make a bit more sense, thanks to a recent Instagram post. A particular image shared to the publisher’s account of its upcoming third-person action game Wanted: Dead revealed an interesting response to a fan. The eager Shenmue faithful had suggested that 110 Industries should work together with Yu Suzuki for Shenmue 4. 110’s response was quite cheeky, telling the fan to “guess” why Suzuki had made an appearance during their TGS presentation. This seemingly innocuous statement has lit something of a fire in terms of possibilities for the next Shenmue game. While there hasn’t been any sort of official confirmation that Suzuki and 110 are indeed teaming up, it certainly does seem that way.

While it’s clear what this conversation implies, 110 has yet to make any sort of direct announcement about any plans to work with Suzuki. It does explain why Suzuki spent so much time with the publisher during Tokyo Game Show, however.