Shenmue 3 oli odotuslistalla melkein 20 vuotta, ja julkaisussaan peli saikin ihan mukavia arvioita. Varsinaista kaupallista menestystä ei kuitenkaan tullut, ja sama kohtalo oli kahdella aiemmallakin sarjan pelillä. Sarjan luoja Yu Suzuki on silti halukas tekemään jatkoa esiosalla.
Japanin IGN:n mukaan Shenmue 4 vetoaisi myös uusiin pelaajiin, mutta tämän ohella pohdinnassa on myös esiosa.
Suzuki pitää tällä hetkellä itsensä kiireisenä muiden projektien kanssa, eikä uutta Shenmueta ole julkistettu.
"I think recreating the streets of Dobuita with modern visuals on a new engine alone would make it worth doing. It also connects to the topic of not simply expanding in size. Making an even more detailed Dobuita than the original Shenmue is an interesting idea, especially if it's not a remake but a prequel with a new story."
"I want Shenmue 4 to be enjoyable for newcomers. To make that possible, the most important thing is to make it enjoyable without knowing previous events in the story. I don't think that a new player wants to know 100% of the story. 20 or 30% could be enough.
In Shenmue 3, we implemented a digest movie that teaches the player the main events of the previous games, but for Shenmue 4 I want to integrate that part into the main game. It would be great if the player could naturally learn about previous events just by playing the game. For example, rather than watching a separate movie, having playable flashbacks could be a way to do it."