{"id":687443,"date":"2026-06-06T06:18:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T06:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/687443\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T06:18:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T06:18:20","slug":"nobody-is-happy-that-yakuza-studios-next-game-is-performing-digital-necromancy-on-tupac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/687443\/","title":{"rendered":"Nobody Is Happy That Yakuza Studio\u2019s Next Game Is Performing Digital Necromancy On Tupac"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today during Summer Game Fest\u2019s main showcase, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio announced that legendary rapper and activist Tupac Shakur\u2014who died in 1996\u2014will be in its jazzy new historical Yakuza-like, Stranger Than Heaven<\/a>. Nobody asked for this, and an only slightly larger number like it.<\/p>\n

Snoop Dogg, who will also appear in the game, was brought out to explain the puzzling inclusion.<\/p>\n

“The Tupac estate and my son and myself, we work very closely together, so it just made sense to put him in this game,\u201d Snoop told Geoff Keighley. \u201cHis likeness and his spirit still lives on, and I just feel like it was so connected to what we’re doing.”<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s still an act of digital necromancy involving a man who, crucially, cannot object. The dead deserve to rest, but instead, the modern era turns their ghosts into IP. This isn\u2019t even the first dead person RGG has shamelessly boasted will appear in Stranger Than Heaven. That not-honor goes to Japanese actor Bunta Sugawara<\/a>, who passed away in 2014. At least in his case, it\u2019s confirmed he\u2019s not getting the Val Kilmer treatment<\/a>, with actor Takashi Ukaji providing his voice instead of AI.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, the whole thing feels gross, which caused \u201cTupac\u201d to trend on both X and Bluesky for the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n

They’re putting Tupac in a Yakuza game with “Snoop Dogg’s blessing.” Snoop Dogg shills for anything. He would dig up Tupac’s bones and shoot them out of a cannon into the sea if it meant a paycheck.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mallorie Malcontent \u2728 (@sweetbeanscomix.bsky.social<\/a>) June 5, 2026 at 2:42 PM<\/a><\/p>\n

First it was the scumbag in Yakuza 3, and now they\u2019re digitally animating Tupac\u2019s corpse?<\/p>\n

Yeah, I think I might be done with anything RGG does for the foreseeable future. Incredibly tone deaf and disrespectful.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Coop (@riderstrike.bsky.social<\/a>) June 5, 2026 at 2:26 PM<\/a><\/p>\n

“why is tupac trending” *click* “noooooo”<\/p>\n

\u2014 foaming pipe snake (@guntoucher.bsky.social<\/a>) June 5, 2026 at 2:53 PM<\/a><\/p>\n

I’m glad I’m not watching this show live, I feel like I would’ve instinctively dropped my phone and the double over from psychic damage once Tupac showed up<\/p>\n

\u2014 Brian M (@legendofnerd.bsky.social<\/a>) June 5, 2026 at 2:42 PM<\/a><\/p>\n

I love RGG and I love hiphop and I absolutely hate everything they’re doing with this angle.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Janet Garcia (@gameonysus.bsky.social<\/a>) June 5, 2026 at 2:25 PM<\/a><\/p>\n

btw this is who runs Tupac’s estate<\/p>\n

[image or embed]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Chris Person (@papapishu.bsky.social<\/a>) June 5, 2026 at 8:07 PM<\/a><\/p>\n

They did not answer how Tupac is in the game and talked about working with his estate #uhoh<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/aHgiwWZt7x<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 \ud83d\udd77\ufe0fSmart Alec\ud83d\udd78\ufe0f (@_TheSmartAlec1) June 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not a fan of that Tupac shit at all man lmaooo \ud83d\udc4e\ud83c\udffd<\/p>\n

\u2014 Big Boss (@LordBalvin) June 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

kendrick lamar please diss rgg studio next<\/p>\n

\u2014 Gene Park (@GenePark) June 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Yeah don’t like Tupac in Stranger Than Heaven. Let that man rest.<\/p>\n

\u2014 RGT 85 (@RGT_85) June 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Retconing Yakuza character deaths wasn’t enough, SO THEY REVIVED TUPAC?!?!?! pic.twitter.com\/A9LMrNWSH8<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Judgement Kazzy 1988 (@2005Dojima) June 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

All this after RGG already found itself in hot water earlier this year<\/a> for refusing to dismiss a voice actor who admitted to sexual assault and generally dropping the ball on the Yakuza series\u2019 latest remake, Kiwami 3. For some, it\u2019s starting to look like Stranger Than Heaven might end up being the last straw.<\/p>\n

Recommended\u00a0<\/p>\n

Movement To Remove Voice Actor Who Has Admitted To Sexual Assault Has Yakuza Fans At Breaking Point<\/p>\n

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio\u2019s silence on #RemoveKagawa widens the rift with fans, revealing fractured values, uneven accountability, and a directionless franchise.<\/p>\n

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