The decision to feature Tupac Shakur's likeness in the upcoming game Stranger Than Heaven has drawn scrutiny, but the project's executive director says both the rapper's estate and family signed off on the role.
Tupac, dead for three decades, will appear as a supporting character in the title revealed at Summer Game Fest. The character uses his likeness but will be voiced by a professional actor rather than AI, meaning it functions as a look-alike rather than a digital resurrection of the man himself.
Masayoshi Yokoyama, executive director and head of RGG Studio, told IGN that the team secured explicit approval before moving forward. "We made sure that we talked to his estate and family and got their permission, not just their permission, but we talked to them about what we wanted to do," Yokoyama said. "They not only said okay, but they were really excited about the opportunity."
The decision has raised questions partly because Tupac's estate is managed by music executive Tom Whalley, whose dealings with the rapper's family have been the subject of legal disputes. Yokoyama stressed that the team approached the matter with respect and intent to honor the deceased artist.
This isn't the studio's first foray into using the likenesses of deceased performers. Stranger Than Heaven features another character modeled after Bunta Sugawara, a late Japanese actor famous in yakuza films. That casting similarly went through family approval, Yokoyama explained.
"We wanted to give their characters a role that would do justice to the people themselves as well. If we didn't, I think that would be extremely rude, so we definitely wouldn't have done it otherwise," Yokoyama said.
For the voice acting, the studio deliberately avoided AI replication and instead hired a human performer. Yokoyama said the goal was to find someone who could inhabit the character's personality rather than simply imitate the deceased performer's speech patterns.
"We're a studio that has really valued acting, not just movie acting but also drama acting," he explained. "We wanted to focus on getting a real person to put their own spin on that character. We didn't want to have them just do an imitation of that character, we wanted them to try to bring out that character's personality, but with a different voice."
Yokoyama acknowledged that backlash is inevitable and welcomed criticism as part of the creative process. The studio faced similar objections when announcing Sugawara's inclusion but stood by the choice.
"I think when you're creating any product in the entertainment industry, there's going to be criticism," Yokoyama said. "Criticism is a freedom that people are free to have. But this is something that we thought was a good idea."
He pushed back against the notion that creators should make decisions solely to avoid controversy. "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," Yokoyama said.
Tupac's character will appear alongside Snoop Dogg, who voices a smuggler named Orpheus working to establish himself in Japan. The exact scope of Tupac's screen time remains unclear.
Stranger Than Heaven launches January 15, 2027 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Author Emily Chen: "The studio's willingness to push creative boundaries with deceased likenesses is bold, but the transparent approval process and commitment to respectful casting choices makes this feel less exploitative than it first appears."
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