A business-to-business advert for Sonic the Hedgehog has confirmed new games will be revealed in 2021 for the series’ 30th anniversary.
As reported by Video Games Chronicle, an advert for the Sonic the Hedgehog brand from July’s business-to-business magazine Licensing Source Book Europe Summer 2020 Edition has been discovered. You can find the double page spread below, or here on pages 90 and 91.
The advert discussing key positives of the brand. These include making over $6 billion USD in revenue by July 2020, over 920 million games sold, and the Sonic the Hedgehog movie making over $300 million at the box office.
The last point discusses the series 30th anniversary in 2021. “A year of celebration – new games, digital content, events, major announcements and a tailored licensing program.” Note that it states the plural of games. Even so, there is fresh speculation of one of these being the next platforming game.
While we saw Team Sonic Racing and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 in 2019, the last “main” Sonic game were Sonic Forces and Sonic Mania, with the Sonic Mania Plus add-on launching in 2018. Head of Sonic Team Takeshi Iizuka stated in 2017 how the reception of Sonic Mania (specifically compared to Sonic Forces) would determine the direction of future titles in the series.
Iizuka also reportedly revealed during the Sonic the Hedgehog Panel at SXSW in 2019 that the next “major” title was in production. Keeping in mind the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent quarantine orders, we do not know how much the next titles were hindered, if at all.
We will keep you informed as we learn more.
