Legendary Sega developer and Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki appeared at E3 2019, during the PC Gaming Show. Yu Suzuki revealed new Shenmue 3 gameplay footage. It was also revealed that Shenmue 3's PC version will be exclusive to Epic Store. It's currently unclear if it is only a limited-time exclusive and if the game will be coming later to Steam or not.

Shenmue 3 being an Epic Store exclusive was also officially stated on the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter page. YS Net explained this choice as well. The reasons given are that seeing Shenmue 3 is developed on Unreal Engine, and the support Epic has been giving to Ys Net, Epic Store has been decided as the best platform to greet the game.

We are happy to announce that Shenmue III for PC will be will be an Epic Games Store exclusive. Development for Shenmue III has been moving forward using Unreal Engine and the support we have received from Epic has been excellent. But most importantly, in looking for the most enjoyable experience on PC, it was decided together with Deep Silver after much discussion that the Epic Games Store would be the best distribution platform option.

The new gameplay sequence shows our protagonist Ryo meeting a new martial arts master. It also features a chasing scene which will make Shenmue fans grin ear to ear. Everything about the scene feels 100% Shenmue, with Ryo chasing a pair of men part of a troublemakers group. They both try to hinder his chase by throwing everything they can at him, with Ryo evading everything.

It's not immediately clear the amount of friction this will cause with Kickstarter backers of the game, but it is most certainly causing friction. A small glance at either the Steam community page or the Kickstarter comments (found above) showcase an immense frustration that the game will be an Epic Game Store timed exclusive. This is consistent with previous controversies, surrounding games like Borderlands 3 and titles from the Metro series. We will keep our eyes on the controversy to see what developer Ys has to say about their decision.

You can find both the English version and the Japanese version of Shenmue 3's E3 2019's footage below. I know this is important for some, myself included.

Shenmue 3 will be launching on November 19 on PS4 and PC via Epic Store.