PlayStation legend Shuhei Yoshida lands first video game voice role in Promise Mascot Agency
Alongside Yakuza lead actor.
PlayStation legend Shuhei Yoshida departed the company earlier this week after more than 30 years. Today it's been announced he's landed his first ever video game voice role.
Yoshida has been revealed as part of the cast for Promise Mascot Agency, the next game from Paradise Killer studio Kaizen Game Works (thanks IGN).
His role? A bright green, bird-like mascot called MonouGe who "just loves games".
Other names in the cast include Takaya Kuroda, known for voicing protagonist Kazuma Kiryu in the Yakuza games, as well as Ayano Shibuya who plays Purah in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Deadly Premonition developer Swery.
Yoshida announced he would leave PlayStation back in November last year. He was the boss of PlayStation Worldwide Studios from 2008 - 2019, after which he was focused on PlayStation's indie developer support.
In 2023, he was awarded the BAFTA Games Fellowship for his contributions to the industry.
"I've been with PlayStation from the beginning, and this is my 31st year with PlayStation," Yoshida said in November, announcing his departure. "And when I hit 30 years, I was thinking, hmm, it may be about time for me to move on.
"You know, the company's been doing great," he continued. "I love PS5, I love the games that are coming out on this platform. And we have new generations of management who I respect and admire. And I'm so excited for the future of PlayStation."
I'm not sure anyone expected him to move into voice acting, though.
Promise Mascot Agency is set to release this year and has been described by its developer as the "world's first (and best) open-world mascot management crime drama", following a disgraced yakuza exiled to a cursed town and forced to run a bankrupt mascot agency.