Shenmue 3, the long-awaited return for Yu Suzuki's seminal open world series, now has a publisher, with Deep Silver doing the duties.

Deep Silver does have a record of bringing Japanese games to the west, and in a delightful twist of fate it's also been responsible for ensuring the Yakuza series gets a wider audience. Yakuza Kiwami, the latest in a series that's genesis came from the Shenmue games, is getting a European and North American release later this month on PlayStation 4 courtesy of the publisher.

Shenmue 3 is coming to PC and PlayStation 4 at an undisclosed date in the second half of 2018 both physically and digitally. It was originally announced for a release in 2017, with the Kickstarter being launched on Sony's stage at E3 2015. We haven't seen too much of Shenmue 3 since, though the brief glimpses we've had have been encouraging, and Yu Suzuki certainly seems to be putting his back into it.

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"I am very pleased to secure this global partnership with Deep Silver, which is comprised of incredible men and women who have a deep passion for bringing Japanese titles to the rest of the world," Suzuki said in the official press release. "Throughout this process, Deep Silver has expressed a deep passion for Japanese games, the Shenmue franchise and its fans-this gives me further confidence in Shenmue 3 and that we have found the best partner possible."