Shenmue lead Yu Suzuki has a new game coming next year with anime vibes cranked all the way up

The creator of Shenmue and Virtua Fighter, Yu Suzuki, has announced a new anime-style game coming to mobile in 2025 – Steel Paws.

We don't know much about this game at the moment, but the trailer shown at The Game Awards has an adorable art style and cranks the anime vibes up to 11. Featuring a purple-haired girl in what looks to be some sort of miniature mech suit matching a cast of robot buddies – actually called Buddy Robots – the trailer shows the wind rushing through her hair as a towering colosseum rises from the ground with a mysterious light emanating from it.

"Embark on a dynamic action adventure game as a girl alongside her Buddy Robots to conquer a mysterious Tower that reappears every century," the official description reads.

Given Yu Suzuki's past hits Shenmue and Virtua Fighter are action-adventure and fighting games, we can reasonably expect Steel Paws to lean into action in some way, though its exact play style remains to be seen. I hope it keeps the anime style throughout, and it looks drawn in the actual playing of the game, not just the cutscenes. 

This mobile game is being made in partnership with Netflix Games, meaning you'll need an ongoing Netflix subscription to play it.

It was a good show for fans of old-school Japanese games, as we also got a look at an Okami sequel, a new Onimusha that looks like Sekiro, and a mecha game from Ico and Shadow of the Colossus director Fumito Ueda.

While you're here, check out our live coverage of The Game Awards.