Romeo is A Dead Man is coming to Xbox Series X|S on February 11, 2026!

In this third-person, action adventure, players will assume the role of Romeo Stargazer, a man trapped in the space between life and death created by a mysterious time paradox. In his new role as FBI Space-Time Agent “Dead Man”, Romeo will uncover a wild, unpredictable story with intense battles, hunt down some of the universe’s most dangerous fugitives, and search for his missing girlfriend, Juliet.

There’s a lot of weird and wonderful themes at play inside Romeo is A Dead Man, and so, I sat down with Executive Director Goichi Suda (Suda 51) and Director Ren Yamazaki to find how it all came together.

The game is pretty chaotic right off the bat. How’d it end up like that?

Suda Goichi (Suda 51): The opening in particular is full speed ahead, yeah. If we’re gonna cause some ruckus right off the bat, we might as well equally get the player in the thick of the action as fast as possible so they don’t have to think too long about it. I’m just glad if they can enjoy the action right from the start.

Ren Yamazaki:　I’ve been at the company for quite some time now, so I’m really used to Suda’s storytelling style. I guess from that perspective, it’s nothing too unusual for me. It’s, like, yeah, business as usual (laughs). Of course, I understand it’s probably confusing to first-time players, but that confusion itself is fun to see. I’m especially excited for how people will react to the story as a whole.

Let’s talk about the main character – what decisions were made when bringing Romeo to life?

Suda: I always wanted Romeo Stargazer to be a character that left a strong impression not just through his in-game skills and weapons, but as a character too. Our past titles feature all sorts of characters who are loved by gamers, so I really thought hard about how to make Romeo a character who’d be just as praised. When Romeo got the “DeadMan” moniker along the way, he really started to come to life in a way that made me confident in him. I thought to myself, like, “Romeo really is DeadMan!” and then it all kind of fell into place. That’s why we made it the title, too.

The combat in Romeo is A Dead Man is intense and fast-paced from the start. Was this always a main goal for the game?

Yamazaki: I was quite firm about the core action elements of the game. So many different aspects and systems of the game changed throughout development, but in my discussions with our main programmer, Hironaka, we made sure the battle system delivered a strong sense of fun, interesting action from the beginning to the end of development.

Is there anything about the action you paid particular attention to, Suda-san?

Suda: The big finisher—Bloody Summer—I paid a lot of attention to how exactly it felt, and to that end the general movement of swords were refined meticulously so that it would feel as authentic as possible. I’m pretty sure I also made a lot of adjustments to the actual moment of impact, but that was years ago development-wise now and I’ve totally forgotten what exactly I requested (laughs). Action games better and better with each and every minor tweak.

 We also paid special attention to how many enemies appear and where in each level. Each time I played through the game to make adjustments, I imagined myself to be playing it for the first time and really considered the emotions that comes with that. Even on a first playthrough, I really wanted it to feel as smooth as it is challenging, and I think we got a good balance there. The end result is obviously dependent on the players, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how it’s received by the public.

It’s tough to create an entirely new IP, especially with a growing team – did you feel that pressure during development?

Suda: I suppose it is a lot of pressure, but we’re a studio that has survived almost solely on original IPs, and we have a lot of long-running IP, so I don’t think about it too much. There’s a degree of pressure involved with team-building, especially when staff come from all kinds of company cultures and backgrounds, but that’s true of any development team. It’s when these two cultures reconcile that I feel the studio’s own identity evolves and matures into something more whole, and this is an ongoing process between every project we’ve taken on.

In the earlier parts of development, we’d have these big monthly where each team would show what they’re working on. Overall I think it was quite positive, as it helped everyone understand the direction of the project, and foster a sense that this is “our” game, so to speak.

Yamazaki: I think that sense of “our game” among every individual staff member is exactly what became the project’s overall strength, too. It fuels dedication towards every detail; everyone approached it with so much sincerity that at times I felt I had to tell people not to go too far with what they were working on.

How would you put Grasshopper’s development style into words?

Suda: Our development style is kind of ad-libbed, I’d say. We bring a bunch of ideas to the meetings and develop them just through talk, and pick apart what seems like something worth implementing, and for the most part we just pick the most interesting ideas and ad-lib ways to put them in. Especially when it comes to action games, they’re not really something where you decide a super rigid spec sheet from the beginning and follow it all the way through—it changes throughout development. You basically have to keep polishing really small parts to make the overall product better. It’s these kinds of processes where the overall Grasshopper style is developed.

Yamazaki: I’m not sure if that approach is an advantage or a disadvantage, but that’s precisely where that bold flavor unique to our games comes through; I think that really works for the people who enjoy it, and is more of an acquired taste for a first-timer. It’s kind of like a ramen shop with a thick, strong broth.

There are definitely times I consider making things a more general, salty flavor for the public at large; though, I’m not sure it works out that way even when I try (laughs). Usually what happens is I start out that way, but somewhere along the way I get bored with the blandness and end up putting a bunch of spice in without even realizing.

Suda: There are already enough “orthodox” games out there to begin with, and I don’t think it’s our place to compete with them!

Romeo is A Dead Man arrives on Xbox Series X|S on February 11, 2026.

ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN

GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC.

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

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“About ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN”
Take control of the protagonist Romeo Stargazer in this third person singleplayer action adventure, split into various chapters. His story is both unpredictable and littered with intense battles, interspersed with side missions to suit the player’s pace.

“Fight blood with blood”
Romeo switches between swords and guns to fight. Wipe out the waves of enemies that stand in your path to give birth to a new kind of bloody action, and take down the fearsome space-time criminals that await. Absorb the blood of your enemies to unleash Romeo’s special attack: Bloody Summer, capable of turning any situation around. Romeo’s various weapons can be strengthened and altered as the story moves forward as he takes on even stronger enemies.

“A story that transcends space-time”
This game’s story starts with space-time itself being shattered by a certain incident. Romeo, too, on the brink of life and death finds himself revived by a new kind of super technology. Thus he is recruited for the FBI’s Space-Time Police as a special agent, and wanders the cosmos in search of criminals who’ve taken advantage of the situation at hand in an attempt to bring justice back to the universe. At the same time, he looks for clues concerning his missing girlfriend Juliet, and quickly comes to find both her disappearance and the destruction of space may be more linked than he thought. Donning the mask called Deadgear, what awaits Romeo at the edges of space-time?