Yesterday, fans unearthed evidence, in the source code of the recently launched Shenmue 3 pre-order website, that seemed to suggest that Shenmue 3 would release on Xbox One. Prior to this discovery, players had only received indication that the title would release for PlayStation 4 and PC, and the idea that it might be coming to Microsoft's console gave interested Xbox One owners some hope. However, the game's publisher has now chimed in on the matter with what may come as disappointing news to these hopeful fans.

Specifically, Deep Silver has taken to Twitter to respond to yesterday's rumor, which was spawned by players that located a hidden Xbox-related asset in the Shenmue 3 website source coude. This asset was connected directly to an Xbox One logo, which would have appeared next to the PS4 logo on the site if it were made visible. This certainly seemed to point to a forthcoming announcement of a Shenmue 3 Xbox One release, but Deep Silver's tweet is quite direct in dispelling this notion.

"There is no planned version of Shenmue 3 for Xbox One," the tweet from the official Deep Silver Twitter account reads. This blunt statement leaves little to the imagination, and while it may come as a disappointment to those that were hoping to see Shenmue 3 on Xbox One, the tweet, at least, provides complete clarity on the situation.

Ever since Shenmue 3 was announced at the Sony E3 2015 press conference, some fans have believed that the long awaited followup would never be available on Xbox One. Indeed, Sony's confirmed contributions to the development of Shenmue 3 seemingly suggested that the game's console release would be limited to PS4. However, the evidence that was discovered yesterday seemed sound, and there are certainly players that would be more than happy to pickup Shenmue 3 on Xbox One.

All of this said, there has been no official explanation of the Xbox asset that was discovered in the source code yesterday. Deep Silver's response would certainly suggest that it was simply an error, and not worth considering, but perhaps there is still the chance for a surprise Shenmue 3 announcement at the forthcoming Microsoft E3 2019 press conference.

Shenmue 3 is set to release November 19, 2019 on PlayStation 4 and PC.