After being exclusive to the Epic Games Store on PC, Shenmue III is finally launching on Steam come November 19. As per the official Ys Net announcement, the developers state that with the Steam release, they “hope even more people will journey to Guilin and the world of Shenmue III again or for the first time”. At the time of writing this article, the price of the Steam version has not been specified. It’s safe to assume though that the price will be similar to the Epic Games Store version.
The Shenmue Series
Many critics and fans agree that the first two installments of the Shenmue series had a significant influence on open-world games. It had large environments, visuals that were stunning for its time, and refreshing realism helped immerse players into its world. Shenmue I and II are widely considered to be among the best in the open-world adventure genre.
After Shenmue II was released in 2001 on the Sega Dreamcast, fans had to wait for almost two decades before a third installment came to fruition. According to Crunchyroll, the crowdfunded Shenmue III sits as “the most funded video game project” on Kickstarter. It drew a whopping $6,333,295 and was released on the PlayStation 4 and the Epic Game Store in November of 2019.
Shenmue III on Steam
Fast forward a year later and the Epic Games Store timed exclusivity is now up. This brings Shenmue III, “one of the most ambitious game projects in history”, to more PC gamers. According to publisher Deep Silver and developer Ys Net, game and in-game rewards codes will be available to the backers who selected the Steam opt-in via the September/October 2019 survey. The first two Shenmue games are also available on PC via Steam as a single purchase.
Shenmue follows the teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki on his quest to find the person behind the murder of his father. It is a vivid open world with plenty of characters to interact with, a realistic combat system, various mini-games, and an immersive story. With Shenmue III coming to Steam, the whole series will now be available to a new audience.
It seems that many games are now making its way to Steam and other PC platforms. What games would you love to see come to the PC? Let me know in the comments!
