Highlights
- Yu Suzuki and his team have started working on a new game, though details about the project are still unknown at this time.
- Despite fans hoping for a new Shenmue game and Suzuki still keen to make one, it appears as though he's still waiting for the right opportunity to do so.
- It seems unlikely that the new project will be revealed before the console release of Air Twister on November 10, so fans will probably have to wait at least another month or so for more information.
The console release of Air Twister is still more than a month away, yet Yu Suzuki and his team have already begun working on a new game. The influential Japanese developer revealed as much during a recent interview with IGN Japan, though fans of Suzuki's work will need to wait a little while longer to find out more about the project.
The interview in question took place at this year's Tokyo Game Show, where Suzuki was in attendance to promote the console port of his Apple Arcade game, Air Twister. As well as appearing on the Konami stage to discuss the upcoming release, he also took part in a special livestream with IGN Japan, and it was here that he revealed that a new game is currently in development at YS NET.
With nearly four years having now passed since the release of Shenmue 3, fans of the franchise will no doubt be hoping that Suzuki and his team are working on a sequel, but this doesn't appear to be the case right now. In the very same interview, Suzuki was asked directly about the future of Shenmue, and although he confirmed that he's still keen to finish Ryo's story, it seems as though he's still waiting for the right opportunity to do so.
Of course, if Shenmue 4 were currently in development, it's unlikely that Suzuki would casually announce it during an interview to promote one of his other games, so anything is possible. However, whatever this new project is, the chances of it being revealed right before the console release of Air Twister seem remarkably slim, so fans will probably have to wait at least another month or so to find out more.
Air Twister is scheduled for release on November 10 and will be available on both current and past-gen consoles. The Switch version of the game was playable at this year's TGS and seemed to garner a fair amount of attention throughout the course of the event. It's incredibly accessible, though will likely appeal to fans of Suzuki's classic arcade games in particular, as it serves as a spiritual successor of sorts to 1985's Space Harrier.
With this in mind, it's possible that Suzuki's next game will also borrow ideas from his past, with once-groundbreaking games like OutRun, Hang On, and After Burner still popular in certain circles and well worth revisiting. In fact, while speaking with IGN Japan, Suzuki expressed his desire to combine some of these old arcade games into a set, so fans of his work may well have that to look forward to as well as whatever it is that he and his team are currently working on.
Air Twister is available now on Apple Arcade, with PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S versions scheduled for release on November 10.
Source: IGN Japan (via PhantomRiverStone)