Shemue fans have rented a billboard in New York’s Times Square to pressure Sega into creating a fourth Shenmue game.
Shenmue 1 and its sequel were both released on the Sega Dreamcast and have become cult classics. Creator Yu Suzuki turned to fans for a third game, raising over £5.5 million and becoming Kickstarter’s highest-funded video game project in the process (via Eurogamer). Shenmue 3 was eventually released in 2019, but the narrative ended on a cliffhanger and fans have been asking for a follow-up ever since.
Taking things into their own hands, the fan-led group Shenmue Dojo has now paid for a digital billboard in New York’s Times Square that features characters from the franchise alongside the hashtag LetsGetShenmue4.
“Shenmue fans do some insane things to try and get recognised…are you watching Sega,” asked the fansite on social media, alongside footage of the billboard.
Broadcast live during our #Shenmue Day stream, #LetsGetShenmue4 hit the streets of New York with a full on 15 second advertisement on Times Square! 🏙️
Shenmue fans do some insane things to try and get recognised…are you watching @SEGA @SEGA_OFFICIAL?👀 pic.twitter.com/gzfLzQWZb9
— Shenmue Dojo 🐉 (@Shenmue_Dojo) June 4, 2024
“What Shenmue did was not only change the perception of what could be done with video games back in 1999, it created a world and story that resonated deeply with us and the community but was a victim of circumstance (and other factors) with the discontinuation of the Dreamcast,” Shenmue Dojo co-owners James Brown and Matt Oliver told Eurogamer.
They’ve been told by creator Yu Suzuki that he has an overarching 11 chapter storyline for the Shenmue series, with the first three games covering about 40 per cent of that vision.
INTERVIEW!
Shenmue Dojo & @phantom_river are proud to share an exclusive #Shenmue interview with the legend himself, Yu Suzuki!
In this huge interview, we delve deep into story, the games, other @YSNET_Inc projects, & of course Shenmue 4!
READ HERE:
🔗 https://t.co/oSxE2ITfY3 pic.twitter.com/4xkZw4XoRU— Shenmue Dojo 🐉 (@Shenmue_Dojo) May 10, 2024
“Our goal is to push for the fourth game in the series to be one step closer to the finished vision. For us, it is not only important to be able to have Ryo’s journey finally completed or to get ourselves lost in a new Shenmue game,” they continued. “But [we also want to] support Yu Suzuki, who has given so much to gaming as a whole, a chance to finish his life’s work.”
Shenmue fans are literally taking over Times Square with billboards for a 4th game. Yu Suzuki must be living rent-free in their heads, but will it actually work or just be another moment of internet desperation? 💁♂️ #LetsGetShenmue4
— tacetmort3m (@tacet_mort3m) June 7, 2024
The 15-second billboard advert reportedly cost fans £31 ($40) but it’s generated a whole lot of social media buzz, with #LetsGetShenmue4 trending on X. However, Sega has yet to respond to the campaign.
In other news, BioWare has announced that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will now be known as Dragon Age: The Veilguard to reflect the narrative of the game.