Ado, Snoop Dogg, Tori Kelly, and OFFICIAL HIGE DANDISM frontman Satoshi Fujihara have been revealed as part of the cast of STRANGER THAN HEAVEN, the new action-adventure game from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, the team behind the Yakuza and Like a Dragon series.
The game’s self-titled theme song, ‘STRANGER THAN HEAVEN’, is a four-way performance between the starring cast, and the most ambitious Japanese-Western pop crossover of the year so far. The track was co-written by Tori Kelly and Satoshi Fujihara, pairing the Grammy-winning American singer-songwriter with one of Japan’s most successful pop writers of the last decade.
Ado plays Keiko Shirai, a singer tied to protagonist Makoto Daito’s rise through Japan’s early 20th century showbiz world. The character’s design carries Ado’s signature blue rose motif, worn in her hair throughout her appearances in the trailer. Posting about the role on X, Ado called the theme song “a ridiculously stacked collaboration”.
Her performance in the game marks her video game acting debut, and follows the J-pop utaite superstar’s feature on ‘Rasen’, the jon-YAKITORY-produced theme song for Lost Judgment in 2021.
Fujihara plays Takashi, who Makoto first meets through yakuza connections before Takashi becomes his protégé and assistant. Kelly plays Suzy, an ambitious singer Makoto encounters in the Atami chapter, describing the game’s premise as “this collision of East and West [that] results in a unique era that exudes both optimism and melancholy”. Snoop Dogg plays Orpheus, the smuggler whose ship Makoto stows away on as he flees America for Japan.
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio unveiled the cast during Xbox Presents: A Special Look at STRANGER THAN HEAVEN, a 30-minute showcase that aired on May 7th, alongside a release window of winter 2026 across PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud, Game Pass, and Steam.
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The game itself follows Makoto Daito, played by Yu Shirota, across 50 years and five Japanese cities: Kokura, Fukuoka in 1915; Kure, Hiroshima in 1929; Minami, Osaka in 1943; Atami, Shizuoka in 1951; and Shinjuku, Tokyo in 1965, where the studio has hinted at a “tremendous secret” tied to the Tojo Clan and Kamurocho of the Like a Dragon series.
Others on the cast include Akio Otsuka, Tokuma Nishioka, Moeka Hoshi, and Snoop Dogg’s son Cordell Broadus. The late actor Bunta Sugawara, of Kinji Fukasaku’s Battles Without Honor and Humanity, also appears as yakuza figure Genzo Iwaki, his character model built by hand from Toei archival footage with the consent of his family, and his voice provided by his longtime friend, actor Takashi Ukaji.
STRANGER THAN HEAVEN is out this winter.
