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A post-credits letter in Shenmue 3 promises to “never give up” on Shenmue 4

Hope lives for Shenmue's ultimate conclusion

Shenmue 3 has miraculously landed after a decades-long wait, but Yu Suzuki’s magnum opus is far from complete – it’s still planned as a multi-chapter series with more sequels to come before we reach the conclusion. It might seem premature to start talking about Shenmue 4 just after the latest game’s seemingly impossible path to release, but Shenmue 3 includes a promise to “never give up” on the dream of finishing the story out.

After Shenmue 3’s credits, a letter from creator Yu Suzuki appears. “For as long as there are those who wish to see Shenmue live on, I will never give up on my own personal journey to complete its story,” Suzuki writes. “As with Shenmue 3, the Shenmue story is with you. I sincerely hope that, together, we can continue to spin the tale of Ryo and his adventures in Shenmue 4.”

Suzuki said a few years ago that the Shenmue saga would likely be spread across 11 chapters and five games, as VGC notes. The director told the outlet in a separate interview that “If Shenmue 3 sells well it will make things easier [with Shenmue 4]. But I think it will rely more on what kind of partners we will be able to secure.”

You can see the message in full below.

Click for a larger view. (Or just watch the full credits on YouTube.)

While the original titles predate today’s open-world games, Shenmue 3 has turned out to be a bit of a time capsule – and hope’s alive that 1999 is going to keep living well into thefuture.