Shenmue III has been pushed back to 2019

If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the next installment of the Shenmue series, Shenmue III, it looks like you’ll have to wait a little longer to get your hands on it.

If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the next installment of the Shenmue series, Shenmue III, it looks like you’ll have to wait a little longer to get your hands on it.

Publisher Deep Silver has announced an updated release window, and the game will now be targeting 2019 instead of the second half of 2018.

The Shenmue III official site was updated with something of an explanation for the delay, citing “extra time” being needed to further polish the game to the “high standards it deserves” and to “release the product in the best possible timeframe.” Unfortunately, this isn’t a very informative reason for the delay. It could have something to do with the fact that the first two games are also getting a re-release later this year. 

This isn’t the first game that Deep Silver has delayed, either, having announced that Metro: Exodus will also be making its debut in 2019 today as well. Hopefully this isn’t the start of a chain of events that finds most of Deep Silver’s slate being pushed back for similar reasons, though the need for additional polish is totally understandable. 

Shenmue III is still in development for both PlayStation 4 and PC. The original games, Shenmue I & II will be coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC with remastered versions later this year.