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At SXSX 2019, head of Sonic Team Takashi Iizuka announced that the the next mainline Sonic the Hedgehog game from the flagship Sonic studio was underway. Since then, we’ve heard nothing about the project, and after today’s Sonic Central stream, we know little more than the project is still in development. During today’s video, Iizuka confirmed that the team behind Sonic Generations and Sonic Forces is still working on the next mainline Sonic game and gave us a tiny teaser video with a release window of 2022.
While Sonic Team has worked on several Puyo Puyo titles in recent years, as you might expect, the vast majority of games the studio has developed since its inception have been Sonic the Hedgehog titles. Its most recent game for the Blue Blur was Sonic Forces, which came out in 2017. While the game made various improvements and played heavily into the fandom with a create-a-character feature, the title received lukewarm reception from critics and fans. Prior to that, Sonic Team released the poorly received Sonic Lost World on Wii U and PC. However, before that, the studio seemed to regain its footing from the disastrous Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), releasing fan-favorite games like Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, and Sonic Generations over a three-year stretch. Sonic Colors is so well liked that Sega is releasing an Ultimate version of it later this year.
This confirmation accompanies a flurry of other Sonic-centric announcements, including an in-game event for Two Point Hospital where you can swap out the staff members’ outfits to celebrate Sonic’s 30th anniversary, mobile game events for titles like Sonic Forces: Speed Battle and Sonic Racing, and already-released games like Sonic Mania, Sonic Forces, and Team Sonic Racing coming to PlayStation Now. You can also learn more about the newly announced Sonic Origins collection here.
We don’t have any additional information about the next mainline game from Sonic Team, but hopefully we’ll learn more soon. The new Sonic Team game launches in 2022. If you’re looking for a deep dive into the rise and fall of the Sonic series, head here. If you want to learn more about how the Sonic brand made the lead to Nintendo consoles following Sega’s transition to third-party developer, head here.
Source: Game Informer
