Shenmue fans are on the move again, this time taking out a Times Square ad

You’ve actually gotta hand it to Shenmue followers. Few online game fandoms have been this persistent in efforts to maintain alive a cult hit. Their newest motion: Renting out a video board in New York’s Occasions Sq. to demand a publishing companion workforce up with collection creator Ys Internet to ship a Shenmue 4.

As IGN points out, quick ads within the coronary heart of Manhattan can nonetheless value as little as $40, so it’s not like this was a mighty crowdfunding marketing campaign just like the one which raised hundreds of thousands in 2015 and delivered Shenmue 3 in 2019. It’s nonetheless a formidable gesture of loyalty to a online game collection that received the traditional recreation trending on X (the previous Twitter) and grabbed a number of mainstream consideration.

Broadcast reside throughout our #Shenmue Day stream, #LetsGetShenmue4 hit the streets of New York with a full on 15 second commercial on Occasions Sq.! 🏙️

Shenmue followers do some insane issues to attempt to get recognised…are you watching @SEGA @SEGA_OFFICIAL?👀 pic.twitter.com/gzfLzQWZb9

— Shenmue Dojo 🐉 (@Shenmue_Dojo) June 4, 2024

The marketing campaign received began after collection creator Yu Suzuki gave an interview in early May during which he mentioned he was down for a Shenmue 4, assuming a publishing companion could possibly be discovered. That’s all Shenmue followers wanted to listen to. The hashtag #LetsGetShenmue4 began trending on Tuesday because of a coordinated social media marketing campaign led by the fansite Shenmue Dojo.

Why is Shenmue so well-liked?

For these unfamiliar with the sport, Shenmue (1999) and its sequel Shenmue II (2001) have been action-adventures following the story of protagonist Ryo Hazuki. Basically a martial arts combating recreation, Shenmue and its sequel have been early exponents of the fashionable open-world method, going thus far to ship an immersive story for Ryo’s life that gamers ended up driving forklifts and doing different menial jobs, whereas additionally visiting arcades to purchase gachapon toys or play traditional Sega arcade cupboards. Shenmue is extensively celebrated for its no-detail-is-too-small method to Ryo’s life.

Shenmue and Shenmue II have been additionally intently related to the Sega Dreamcast, the final console that firm produced, nonetheless revered (and lamented) by hardcore video video games lovers because it was discontinued in 2001. They held a torch for the collection for nearly 15 years till Suzuki appeared at PlayStation’s E3 2015 keynote to announce a crowdfunding effort to create Shenmue 3. It raised its preliminary purpose of $2 million lower than 9 hours after the preliminary announcement, and ended up elevating greater than $7 million to assist develop a recreation that in the end launched in 2019 on PlayStation 4 and Home windows PC.

Whereas the vital reception to Shenmue 3 was middling to nonplussed, Shenmue followers reveled within the supply of a long-demanded sequel, in addition to the fan service it represented and their grassroots triumph in getting it printed. Clearly they’re feeling the identical vibes once more with this newest marketing campaign. And who might begrudge this type of enthusiasm, actually?

We’ll see if any writer picks up the bit, although. Deep Silver was the Shenmue III writer, and its father or mother firm, Embracer Group, has been staggered by layoffs and a collection of pricy bets on licensed titles that didn’t pan out. It has since sold off Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2 studio/publisher Saber Interactive and split into three spinoff companies as a part of an general cost-saving technique meant to appease restive traders.