August 3^rd, 2004 (12:00am) - After the release of Shenmue II on the Xbox, it had been thought that Yu Suzuki’s third Shenmue title had been put on an indefinite hiatus. However, thanks to GamesIndustry.biz, we can confirm that Shenmue has returned with a massively multiplayer title for the PC platform in Shenmue Online.

Shenmue Online is part of SEGA’s new plans to enter the massive Chinese online gaming market, a market believed to be a key territory in order to establish a successful online gaming business, in which more than ten million online gamers exist. The game is being co-developed and co-published by SEGA and Korean firm JC Entertainment with the 2005 Chinese launch of the game being handled by T2 Technology. At the moment, no international launch has been confirmed. However, it is expected, due to the popularity of series worldwide, that the game will see a release in other territories outside of China.