Today Shenmue III developer Ys Net and Deep Silver announced that they signed a deal for the publishing of the game worldwide.

As a result, Deep Silver will take care of distributing both the physical retail and the digital version of the game in the second half of 2018.

In the accompanying press release, Director Yu Suzuki expressed his satisfaction for the deal, mentioning that Deep Silver has a deep passion for Japanese games, and that gives him faith on the fact that they're the best possible partner.

Deep Silver also had a comment to share, praising the historical value of the Shenmue series, and mentioning that the publisher is eager to put its global distribution capabilities to work to maximize the potential of Shenmue III.

Last, but not least, we get word from PlayStation’s Third Party Relations & Developer Technology Group Vice President Florian Hunziker, who explained that Sony is excited about the partnership as well, and trust that Shenmue III will deliver the gameplay that fans have been waiting for. This partnership will help materializing Yu Suzuki's vision, and the company is eager to see it happen on PS4.

Yu Suzuki Himself will be available to meet the fans at Gamescom in Cologne at Deep Silver's booth on Wednesday, August 23rd from 6:30 to 7:30 PM and Thursday, August 24th from 12:30 to 1:30 PM.

Shenmue III will release for PS4 and PC, and has recently been delayed to the second half of 2018. According to a previous announcement, at Gamescom we should be able to see some new videos.