'Shenmue' remake: Shenmue 1 and 2 remasters still coming out this year

There has been several reports regarding the remastered versions of “Shenmue” and “Shenmue 2” becoming an actual game that fans can play on their platforms. These reports were further strengthened by a trusted online blog and retail site, Rice Digital, stating that the game is in development.

Several reports of an HD remastering of the original Shenmue games have been actively rotating around the web since September last year. This was the time when Sega acknowledged the importance of community interest in making their projects and further emphasised that these ideas given by fans had their full attention.

Reports that are stating that a high-definition remastered versions of the “Shenmue” series have finally been confirmed over the weekend. Rice Digital stated that a trusted source that has connections with the US developers of Atlus (a subsidiary of original Shenmue publishers of Sega) has confirmed that the abovementioned game is currently in development. The project has an expected targeted release date by the latter part of this year, per the report given by Rice Digital.

Furthermore, the source assures that both games will probably be released together rather than separately. These will be tagged as episodes one and two. It's worth mentioning that Rice Digital has been accurate with leaks from Atlus before. One of which is the revealing in April last year that the developers would publish “King of Fighters XIV.” The debut of the game followed a few days after the leak was given by Rice Digital.

Rice Digital also stated that the third franchise of the “Shenmue” title could possibly have its release in 2018. But it is still not clear if this information also came from the Altus reliable source. The remaster of the original two titles (which will be released as a single game) can be expected sometime in March or May 2018.

The original Shenmue franchise was first released for the Sega Dreamcast platform. Although the platform was not that much of a big hit, the game was such a huge success. The sequel of the game was then released on the Xbox platform in 2002 in the United States and 2003 in Europe.

Rice Digital also stated that no further details have been revealed in line with the actual release of the game. Only speculations were given. All that was known is that the game’s remastered version is safe to assume a PC/Steam release. Furthermore, there has been no indication that the “Shenmue HD Remasters” will appear on any other platform.