Ryan Burden

As a console manufacturer turned third party publisher, Sega has one of the most rich and expansive libraries in the industry. With such a history, many fans have fond memories playing games that opened with that trademarked Sega logo, and hope for the chance to replay those titles on modern consoles. That desire prompted a YouTube post from SEGA Europe about the possibility of an HD re-release of one of the publishers most requested properties: Shenmue.

“With regards to Shenmue 1 and 2 HD, of course we would love to release these tomorrow,” says SEGA Community Manager Dan Sheridan in the video. “Sadly, it’s not as simple as porting the games to the current platforms, as we would need to ensure that any HD remaster lived up to the quality of the original titles.”

Rumours of an HD remake for Shenmue have circulated for years, but with Shenmue III now officially in development, the remakes are more probable than ever.

“We’d love to do it and are currently investigating how to make it a reality,” says Sheridan.

Shenmue is an open-world action-adventure franchise first published on the Dreamcast in 1999. While the sequel found it’s way to the Xbox in 2001, the franchise fell into obscurity following poor sales despite its cliffhanger ending.

During its time on Kickstarter, Shenmue III became the most-funded game of all time, generating $6.3 million from backers, actually breaking the site for a brief period of time. The game is officially set to release December 2017, and it’s a big deal.