Sega's concentrating on PC and mobile games, but Sonic Team's boss suggests that Sonic's days on consoles aren't over yet...
NewsNeither Sega nor its hyperactive mascot have had an easy time over the past few months. The once mighty company announced a fairly drastic restructure in January, which will see its base of operations move and a considerable percentage of its staff in the US reduced.
Sonic the Hedgehog, meanwhile, suffered a damaging blow with Sonic Boom- an outing greeted by dismal reviews and slow sales. With Sega announcing its intention to step away from console development and concentrate on mobile and PC games, the news didn't seem good for the blue blur.
The release of free-to-play infinite runner Sonic Runners, out now in Japan for mobiles - seemed to underline the thinking that Sonic's console days may be behind him.
But in a new interview with Japanese site 4Gamer, Sonic Team's head of development Takashi Iizuka had some reassuring words about the Sonic franchise.
"Personally, I don't plan to stop Sonic for home video game consoles," Iizuka said. "Don't worry about them! And enjoy!"
It's not much, admittedly, and we're guessing that whatever happens to Sonic next will be decided more by the powers that be at Sega than at Sonic Team. Certainly, the franchise needs a strong return to form in order to get it back on track. Something like a Sonic Generations sequel - or even a multi-platform version of the underrated Sonic Colors on the Wii - could be just the tonic the venerable hedgehog needs - assuming Sega will even consider investing in such a project.
More Sonic news as we get it.
