Released on February 11, 2026 “romeo is a dead manIt was developed by Goichi Suda (SUDA51) at Grasshopper Manufacture, and supported platforms are PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam).
An adventure action film starring Romeo Stargazer, an FBI special space agent. Using firearms and security weapons, he pursues a designated criminal lurking in the multiverse.
Prior to the release of this article, we conducted an interview with Goichi Suda, the representative and general director of this work, and Ren Yamazaki. We asked him about the behind-the-scenes stories from the concept of this work to its release.
Mr. Goichi Suda(Sudagouichi)
“ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN” Executive Director, Producer, Scriptwriter.
Mr. Ren Yamazaki(Yamazaki Ken)
Director and screenwriter of “ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN.”
From surprising movie motifs to unique sci-fi action
–Please tell us how well Suda-san and Yamazaki-san are working on this work.
Suda
Initially, Yamazaki and I served as double directors, but halfway through the project our positions changed and I became the general director and producer.
Yamazaki
I was the director and was in charge of activities together with Suda.
Suda
There are support members, but Yamazaki and I make the general policy.――Then please feel free to say that “ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN” is any game.
Suda
The main character, a young man named Romeo, falls in love with a woman named Juliet. However, Juliet is a very dangerous woman, and after being with her for a while, time and space become distorted, an amazing monster appears, and the world collapses.
Romeo also shows his face and gets eaten, but he somehow survives and is revived as a half-dead man. At the same time, Romeo’s grandfather, Dr. Benjamin, is also eaten, but he is still alive attached to Romeo’s back.
–At the point when you’re ready, you feel like you’re not sure what to do (laughs).
Suda
It’s an action game where you go on a journey to find a girl.
――The name makes me think of “Romeo and Juliet,” but since it’s a motif of the story, could you please give me a name?
Yamazaki
Romeo’s name was decided from the beginning, and Juliet was tentatively supposed to play Choi. At first, he was just a phone caller to Romeo, but as the scenario was rewritten, he became the main character.–In other words, it’s not a story that depicts scenes like “Romeo and Juliet.”
Suda
It doesn’t matter at all. It’s not a motif at all. However, I think you have to watch the story to find out whether it will be a tragedy or a comedy.–Please tell us about the concept you created for this work.
Suda
To put it simply, it’s “ultra violent science fiction.” I aimed for a violent science fiction work.–I’m sure the planning for this work started with the idea of creating an original title, but did you have that concept decided from the beginning?
Suda
From the beginning of the project, we had the concept of Romeo traveling through time and defeating the horrors of various eras, and it was pretty much set in stone.–I don’t think it’s easy to combine “surprising things” and “time travel,” but why did you decide to mix them together?
Suda
Maybe it’s a movie directed by George A. Romero.“Night of the Living Dead”(*1968) is the content that has led to the creation of various movies.
At first, Fallen was a magical entity, but Romero transformed him into an infected person. Since then, it has continued to evolve over time.
is
“evil dead”(*1), it is a monumental masterpiece of running wonders.“28 days later…”I’m thinking of introducing something with the motif of (*2). The shape was different, and midway through development we changed the monster’s name to “Lotter” and stopped using it as a miracle, so it wasn’t a game that mimicked the miracle movie.
*1: A horror movie released in Japan in 1985. The story depicts young people who revive evil spirits out of curiosity, and are continually attacked by them. *2: Horror movie released in Japan in 2003.
–I’m surprised. Why did it develop into “Rotter”?
Yamazaki
I think it’s appropriate for the convenience of the game.
Suda
Macro movies are also evolving, for example.“World Wars”(*3) depicts the overwhelming amount of objects that appear to be installed on the ground. This work uses Unreal Engine 5 to improve the quality of the graphics, and considering the processing efficiency, the amount of surprises can’t be beat.
*3: Movie released in 2013. As the world is rapidly collapsing due to explosive infections, a former United Nations investigator scours all over the country in search of something that will attract the attention of humanity, a terrifying disaster panic. Although it is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name, it is a completely different work that does not share the same setting.
–Please note that Lotter does not include the essence of the movie.
Suda
There is nothing abnormal other than being surprised.
Yamazaki
This is also a story about elements that will not be included in this work in the end, but regarding macros, I first received a lecture from a “macro expert”.
Suda
It was also a meeting about the agenda, but it was also called a macro meeting.–I’d like to ask you that it’s because this work is no longer surprising.
Suda
It would take a long time to go into detail, but to put it simply, I planned to have the schedule team create the story alone, and I planned it carefully.
When I first started working on the scenario team, I wanted to complete the schedule first.
From that point on, it became less surprising and more original, and I started rewriting it with Yamazaki.
–It’s a really revealing situation (lol). There is an unexpected cultivation element in the game where you can cultivate Lotters in the field.
Yamazaki
At first, in addition to the gameplay where the main character fights against enemies, I wanted a system where you can increase the number of allies with special skills, and a system where you can get surprises and summon them, but before I knew it, it turned out to be a surprise field (lol).
Surprisingly, there are many types of cases these days where there is a source of infection, and from there the virus spreads.
Suda
As expected, leaving a dead body behind for cultivation is quite graphic, so it turned out to be a seed (lol). I was thinking from the beginning that I would definitely include a craft element, so I guess it had something to do with the background.–The weapons used by the main character (guns, swords, chainsaw-like swords) are also inspired by horror movies, so please let us know.
Yamazaki
It had nothing to do with panic-panic movies, and from the beginning I had envisioned a sword with a chainsaw attached to it.
–Most of Suda-san’s action games are centered around combat, so it’s refreshing to see guns included.
Suda
However, the main focus will still be on enemy combat (lol). This time, the programmer requested that “we also want to include gun combat,” so we adopted this form.–Please tell us what is particularly noteworthy about this battle.
Suda
We paid particular attention to the firing and special move “Bloody Summer” that can wipe out enemies in one fell swoop. First of all, Blood Gauge is required to activate Bloody Summer. In order to fill up this gauge, you need to be afraid of returning blood, and you can’t receive the returning blood unless you attack with a sword, so the blood gauge is the most difficult specification for guns. Instead, guns are capable of long-range attacks that hit the enemy’s weak points, so it’s a good idea to balance things out.
I think each person has a different play style, and I try to win to a certain extent just by shooting with a gun.
–I get the impression that Suda-san focuses on the action, especially at the end, and I think the big feature is that he uses pro-wrestling techniques this time.Will you use pro-wrestling techniques again this time?
Suda
This time it was prohibited.–Eh! That’s right.
Suda
If you strongly incorporate professional wrestling techniques into the action, you will inevitably see Travis (‘No More HeroesThe main character of the “Romeo” series) was finally banned because it weakened Romeo’s character. I just said it’s prohibited, but maybe it will come out someday.
At first, I was doing things like Tiger Mask, Tiger Spin from Tiger Step, and Face Lock. I also wanted to parody a famous scene from a certain battle training camp… Everything was scrapped.
I would like to apologize at first, but I was a passive player who jumped up and down like WWE.
–Well, I don’t know what it is, but I’m looking forward to it (lol). So, what kind of fighting style is Romeo aiming for?
Yamazaki
It’s basically a sword and a gun, but it also has knuckles. The main style is to fight using different weapon types, and there is no fixed type.
――During continue time, you can get buffs by playing roulette, and I thought this was a good title for Mr. Suda.
Suda
『lollipop chainsawRoulette has been used since the time of “No More★Heroes 3” adopted retry roulette. As a specialty, it also appears in this work.–You mentioned “Lollipop Chainsaw,” but there are some surprises. I think there are some similarities, such as the buddy-like element where you only have a partner with a head, but was there anything you were conscious of this time?
Suda
I was a little conscious about the story part. In fact, when we first planned “Lollipop Chainsaw,” it was a story about defeating the horrors of each era. However, it still didn’t work out, and in the end it was said that they overwhelmed the school’s Four Heavenly Kings. I wanted to base this work on things that couldn’t be done in Lollipop Chainsaw, but I wasn’t able to fully realize it (lol).
At the beginning of development, we aimed to recreate the town and created a diorama for map design.
–Are there any points you’d like us to pay particular attention to this time?
Yamazaki
For me it’s an action. I paid more attention to the feel and exhilaration of the game than usual, and I was able to create an action game with strong strategic elements, so I hope people look forward to that as they progress through the story.
Suda
In terms of the amount of blood, I think the amount of blood is as high as anyone in this industry. I’m so confident that when I think of Bloody Action, I think of it as Grasshopper.–This is where Stage takes on the challenge of creating a production that is typical of Grasshopper.
Suda
I don’t know how everyone will respond to the plan, but I’m excited to see what people think of it after it’s released.–Is there any carryover play after clearing the game?
Suda
I could hear the staff screaming, but we definitely wanted to release New Game+ with it installed from the beginning, so we asked the staff to work hard right before the master update.–Are there any points that left a strong impression on you during the development process?
Suda
It’s a diorama. As we’ve talked about in the past, we originally planned to have a vast map with six eras and then six areas, and the game was going to be a game where players could freely explore the map. In terms of scale, it feels like there will be six areas, three times the size of No More Heroes 3. Therefore, I created an elaborate diorama image to use as a reference for map design.
I thought about a lot of things, but rather than having to navigate a vast city like the previous generation, I decided to compete with beautiful graphics. This is not a map where you can roam freely, but a stage that progresses to an orthodox Narnia, but this allowed us to show you some beautiful and bloody action.
The diorama that was made is in the background. It was quite large and had many different types of buildings.
–How many of the free maps that were originally adopted were rejected?
Suda
I wanted to use as much as possible of what I made in the future, but I think I threw away most of the elements. Of course, I think the know-how and materials are being put to good use in the lower part.–So you went that far and adopted a linear map halfway through. In contrast to the hardships, were there any points that you enjoyed while developing it?
Suda
What all the staff were happy about was the game over screen. Everyone was already in high spirits making it. So, even if you are good at games, please try to get the game over at least once (lol).–looking forward to it! Mr. Suda’s game is called “Suda Game” by himself, but do you personally think that there are any aspects that are unique to you?
Suda
I have no idea what it is (lol). Some of our development members are new, but we also have old staff.
Among the members who are only involved in development, there are some staff members who are “Suda principle game principle”. There are people who give explanations to other staff members like, “This particular point lacks the Suda component” (lol).
–Ingredients? (laughs)
Suda
However, Grasshopper Manufacture currently has quite a bit of content when it comes to NetEase games.
–Did NetEase have any requests for the game’s content?
Suda
Not really. There was only one point that the owner asked me to fix, and nothing else. By the way, NetEase also cooperated in the development.–If it’s a hit, is there a possibility of a sequel?
Suda
However, while we have the premise that “if the fans want it, we will do it”, we also have a desire to create original titles next time. Or, given the level of maturity of the team, I’d like to make a game that has some reservations, such as a version rights title.
So far, Grasshopper has not only produced original games, but also games that are titles from other companies or have anime copyrights. Cooking something that has a source material is a completely different experience than creating an original title. Currently, the number of Grasshopper members has increased.
However, there are no plans for downloadable content, but if there is a strong demand, we may create one.
–Please give us a final message.
Yamazaki
Dead but alive, alive but dead. Thank you for your continued support of Romeo!
Suda
If you played it, please post your thoughts on the “ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN” account on X (formerly Twitter). I haven’t reported it yet. Fully revised!
