UPDATE
Looks like Microsoft forced SEGA’s hand indeed. The Japanese game publisher just released a Pre-order trailer for Shenmue I & II and confirmed the release date for the compilation with August 21st. You can now also pre-purchase the game on Steam. Check out the trailer!
Original News
Microsoft’s digital storefront has possibly spilled the beans early by posting the release date of Shenmue I & II HD. Sega did not disclose the official release date themselves, so it looks like Microsoft missed the memo.
The remasters of Dreamcast’s swansongs were announced earlier this year by SEGA themselves, to arrive on modern gaming platforms. That is, the PS4, Xbox One and PC. Nintendo’s handheld-console hybrid Switch is sadly not getting in on the fun.
Xbox PR personality Larry Hyrb aka Major Nelson, put a post on his blog to celebrate the news that Shenmue I & II are now available for Pre-order and Pre-download. In his post, Nelson linked to Shenmue I & II’s Microsoft Storepage, where interested users had to double-check once they noticed the release date as Tuesday, August 21, 2018, 6:00:00 AM.
So far, SEGA who publishes the Shenmue remasters, hasn’t announced the release date, even though users weren’t expecting a far-off date, seeing the long-awaited conclusion to the series is slated to arrive next year with Shenmue III. Still, it seems not like a placeholder date and we wouldn’t be surprised if SEGA were to release an official acknowledgement soon.
SEGA’s legendary cult series got a much appreciated shot of lifeblood in 2015 when series designer Yu Suzuki announced their Kickstarter for the third Shenmue on Sony’s E3 stage. The crowdfunding campaign was a huge success, surpassing the donation goal almost immediately. After the initial immense media attention, it got relatively quiet once the team started development. Development updates throughout the years divided interested followers with its budget quality. Understandable, since the original two Shenmue games are often cited in Most Expensive Games lists and the new entry is decidedly aiming at a AA tier.
Shenmue I & II are available at the Microsoft Store right now for only $29.99. A great deal when you consider that both titles are huge immersive action-RPGs.
