Stranger Than Heaven boss Masayoshi Yokoyama has defended using Tupac’s likeness in the upcoming action game.
Last weekend, Snoop Dogg took to the stage of Summer Game Fest to announce that Stranger Than Heaven would feature a character that used Tupac’s likeness. “The Tupac estate and my son and myself, we work very closely together,” Snoop explained. “So it just made sense to put him in this game, because his likeness and his spirit still lives on. I just felt like it was so connected to what we’re doing.”
Game developers RGG have said the character’s voice will be recreated using an actor and not AI, and that Tupac’s estate supports the inclusion. However some fans aren’t happy about the posthumous appearance, especially since Tupac’s estate is managed by music executive Tom Whalley – something that Tupac’s family has challenged.
In a new interview with IGN, RGG studio head Yokoyama has defended the decision to use Tupac’s likeness in Stranger Than Heaven. “I think when you’re creating any product in the entertainment industry, there’s going to be criticism,” he said. “You can’t really say, ‘don’t criticise us’ t. Criticism is a freedom that people are free to have. But, this is something that we thought was a good idea and that would add value to our game. We have no real regrets or worries about what we’re doing,” he explained.
“For me personally, I think trying to make everybody happy is the job of a politician. For a person who makes games, I think our job is to try to give an inspirational, emotional, or deep experience to as many people as possible. And if you try to make decisions just to avoid criticism, you will end up with something that can’t do that.”
Stranger Than Heaven launches January 15, 2027 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
In other news, Microsoft have revealed they’re struggling to make their new Xbox console (known as Project Helix) affordable due to a hardware “crisis”.