The long-awaited entry in the Shenmue trilogy, Shenmue III, has been delayed yet again, getting an expected release date of 19 November, 2019. A few good months after its initial release date of 27 August.

The news was broken to fans in a blog post today as publisher Deep Silver and developer Yu Suzuki explain why.

Here’s the brief update in its entirety:

“Hello everyone, today, Yu Suzuki & Deep Silver would like to give a message concerning the release date. Shenmue 3 will now release on 19th November 2019.

Whilst almost ready, the game simply needs a little more refinement before being truly finished.

We feel that the extra time we have will help us deliver the true Shenmue experience players around the world deserve!

We thank you for your patience and understanding.”

The delay is for good reason as the developers plan for a fully complete experience on day one, and I respect that decision.

I say to devs, do not fall into the words of fans asking for an early release date when the game is still in development and can be polished to its best version.