RGG Studio has lifted the lid on its next big game, Stranger Than Heaven. Announced back at The Game Awards in 2024 with the codename Project Century, Stranger Than Heaven was re-revealed last summer with its final name. In partnership with Xbox, the Yakuza developer released a 30-minute presentation where it dove deep into everythign you'd want to know about Stranger Than Heaven with heaps of new gameplay footage. It’s immediately clear that this is quite different from the Yakuza games, as it will take place over the course of half a century.

The story begins in 1915 with protagonist Makoto Daito sneaking onto a ship to escape from his life in San Francisco after the passing of his parents. He heads for Japan, but aboard the ship he meets a cutthroat smuggler known as Orpheus, played by Snoop Dogg.

As you might imagine, Makoto gets wrapped up in a life of crime after Orpheus takes advantage of Makoto’s ability to speak Japanese and fit in with the culture. Makoto grows ambitious and seeks power in Japan, eventually entering the world of show business while still leveraging the skills and authority he gained from his criminal background.

Over the course of the game, the world will evolve as time passes. Makoto will travel to various cities depending on where he is in his life and what his goals are. This prevents the world from becoming static, as things are constantly shifting as you progress. New mini-games will open up based on what era and city you’re in. The world itself is also extremely layered. Of course, there are businesses you can enter and find activities in, but there is also a dangerous criminal underworld to explore.

As for the gameplay, it is clear that RGG Studio has done a lot to differentiate Stranger Than Heaven from the Yakuza games. The combat itself appears to generally be much more grounded, but has a great deal of depth. For instance, players have buttons that are specifically mapped to the right and left sides of the body, as well as their respective limbs.

If you want to throw a right punch, you press the right bumper. If you want to throw a left kick, you press the left trigger. It’s a style of combat that will likely force you to be more thoughtful with your approach, rather than button-mashing. It also appears there are contextual animations, as Makoto can be seen tackling an enemy on some stairs, prompting them to properly roll down the stairs. It looks very scrappy and brutal, which should make for some extremely bloody but engaging fights.

You’ll also have a wide variety of melee weapons that you can find, purchase, and upgrade, providing more depth to what’s possible in the combat. It’s also believed there may be access to guns. Makoto can be seen doing target practice with a gun at one point during this presentation, but it’s unclear how prevalent they’ll be in combat.

Another key mechanic has nothing to do with violence whatsoever. As part of Makoto’s show business aspirations, he can collect sounds from around the world. Whether it’s animal noises, an enemy clanging a metallic weapon around, or a train sound, Makoto can make note of these and then combine them into original compositions later on to make songs from them.

He can also manage a band and set up performances with different instruments and musicians, allowing for a great deal of control over the more calm side of Makoto’s life. Various musicians will be part of the game’s cast, including Tori Kelly, who also produced an original theme song for the game.

Stranger Than Heaven is targeting a winter 2026 release window for Xbox Series X and S, PS5, and PC. Xbox owners are also in luck as Stranger Than Heaven will be available to Xbox Game Pass subscribers on day one.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.

An impressive-looking new Star Fox remake has just been announced for Switch 2, via a shadow-dropped, dedicated Nintendo Direct broadcast.

The game is simply titled Star Fox, and is a ground-up remake of Star Fox 64 (known in some regions as Lylat Wars). Today's reveal follows the character's recent reappearance in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and a recent, major leak that pointed to a new game in the franchise — the first for nearly a decade.

Once again, you'll be piloting an Arwing over the skies of Corneria and other planets alongside Falco, Peppy and Slippy. Level layouts will be familiar to anyone who has played the original Star Fox 64, though the game has received a huge graphical overhaul.

The game appears to remain an on-rails experience, albeit with some control over your craft's movement to boost, brake and (of course) do a barrel roll. Sections in the Landmaster ground tank and Blue-Marine submarine are also again included.

Switch 2 mouse controls have been added, and two players can take control by sharing a Joy-Con with a friend, with one controlling the Arwing's movement, while another mans the ship's guns. Alternatively, you can enjoy a retro feel by using the Switch's N64 controller!

While the story of the game may be familiar, Nintendo says it has added fresh cutscenes adding new story moments between characters, expanding on the game's narrative. Campaign mode features easy, normal and hard modes, with the latter removing the ability to continue on after a Game Over.

Challenge mode allows you to replay levels with new objectives that aren't found in the main campaign (there's an Expert difficulty for veteran pilots, too).

Battle mode, meanwhile, sees you going head-to-head against players on team Star Wolf via online battles, locally via GameShare, or online using GameShare via GameChat. On Corneria, you'll be battling over zone control, while on the icy planet of Fichina you're collecting energy crystals and dodging meteorittes. Finally, in the deep space Sector Y, you're collecting cargo.

Speaking of online play, a cool addition here is the ability to apply AR filters for any of the Star Fox team while using GameChat. So, yes, you can create your own Star Fox team banter — with avatars for Fox, Slippy and the gang that mirror your facial movements and expressions.

Step into the Arwing using AR Filters and Character Avatars! #StarFox is coming to #NintendoSwitch2 on June 25.

Watch the Star Fox Direct: https://t.co/K6mlaoosSw pic.twitter.com/SECRYjsOmu

While tonight's Direct arrived without warning, the impending arrival of a new Star Fox project was one of the key titles mentioned in a recent, major leak of upcoming Nintendo projects — which also spoiled the existence of a Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake due this Christmas, and mentioned an all-new 3D Mario game due in 2027. Both of these projects now feel like sure bets.

Star Fox launches exclusively for Switch 2 on June 25, slotting in neatly between Yoshi and the Mysterious Book on May 21 and Splatoon Raiders on July 23.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick is just as disappointed as the rest of us when it comes to the never-ending development of the next BioShock game.

For years, a team known as Cloud Chamber has been working on what is tentatively referred to as BioShock 4. While some games can take as many as four or five years to make, BioShock 4 has been in the works since at least 2019, when the project was announced, but it has likely been even longer than that. Cloud Chamber went through some restructuring last year to get BioShock 4 on track for release, but no one knows when it is expected to come out.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick was asked by Game File's Stephen Totilo if he was surprised by how long it has taken to make BioShock 4. He noted that it's hard to be surprised when he sees the inner workings firsthand, but he is disappointed.

"Surprised? Never,” said Zelnick. “Think about what ‘surprise’ implies,” Zelnick said. “That’s like, one day, everything’s awesome, and the next day, I’m like, ‘Holy shit.’ And I don’t run the business that way. But I think if you’re saying ‘disappointed,’ yes. Deeply disappointed.”

Zelnick also addressed why it is taking so long and noted that BioShock 4 may have gone down some paths that didn't pan out, resulting in setbacks.

“I think we, in retrospect, wasted a lot of time and money chasing down some creative alleys that turned out to be dead ends,” he said.

It was reported last year that BioShock 4's biggest issues revolved around its narrative, and the team was taking measures to overhaul the story. 2K Games stated at the time that it believed that it had a good game, but was making efforts to deliver a great game that would meet fan expectations.

Last year, Zelnick assured fans that BioShock 4 would come out despite its troubled development. He doesn't foresee it as a project they need to pull the plug on, and they brought in industry veteran Rod Fergusson to help get the game on track. Fergusson was previously brought in to help finish BioShock Infinite when it went through development issues before moving on to work on Gears of War 4 at The Coalition.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.