I doubt Sega will have any involvement beyond stamping their name on it.
Which makes me even more doubtful.
Who 'in Japan' right now, as an external developer, have the competencies to make Shenmue for the current-gen? How many developers have the engine, the resources and the experience to build a highly dynamic open-world game there?
At least with SEGA internal teams, Team Yakuza has the ability to do it. And I'm sure Nintendo EAD/SPD and even Japan Studio could manage it if they tried, with their wealth of talent + tech sharing from other WWS divisions.
But Japan's independent developer crop right now?
(Sure, western devs are an option, but I'm thinking that's a low probability given that Yuzuki has never worked with a western team, and he's not that well-versed in Eng)
But that's assuming part 3 is going to wrap everything up. There's certainly precedent for success with chapter models like Walking Dead or even Alan Wake.
Well, chapter models is a possibility, but what I'm saying is that I don't believe for a second that any potential publishers for Shenmue will think of it being anymore more than a sunk cost with little to no chance of profitability, and that any money going into Shenmue as a franchise will be only to close the story, and nothing more.
If SEGA is willing to forfeit the IP, then at least 'publisher X' can use that brand for their own open-world experience, but at this stage, it's clear SEGA is still holding on to it and that everything in at their whim.