Skaparen av Shenmue, Yu Suzuki, har i en intervju avslöjat lite av hans tankar kring utvecklingen av Shenmue Online. Enligt honom är Shenmue-serien perfekt för genren MMORPG, då han alltid velat göra ett spel med en större värld än någon annan samt fler människor än i något annat spel. Detta är vad han har sagt:
"If asked why Shenmue, it's because with the plan that the original game would have a world larger than any other game and have more characters appear than in any other game, the series was meant for massively multiplayer online"
"The game will have the community and level-raising elements of a standard massively multiplayer online title, and will progress centring on the battle system cultivated in Virtua Fighter and Shenmue. To that, we're adding fighting based on spirit power and weapons, and plan on making it something that anyone can play."
"The game takes place throughout all of China, and has a story set in the beautiful rivers and mountains and in the historic cities of this country. Events, some from the Dreamcast version and others original and meant for this title, will number over three hundred. Of course, we'll have updates, which will make the world gradually grow. Enemies who don't appear in the conventional Shenmue will appear, so please look forward to this world"
"Conventional Shenmue characters like Ryo Hazuki and Xiuying Hong will appear as Game Masters - that is, NPCs controlled by the computer. The relationship between those characters and the players themselves is a focus of this title."
Vi hoppas, hoppas, hoppas på att Yu Suzuki och resten av teamet börjar planera för en release utanför Kina.