Sonic Frontiers was supposed to launch last year, lining up with the franchise’s 30th anniversary. However, according to Sega’s December investor Q&A (via Sonic Stadium), the game’s release was postponed in order to increase its overall quality.
When asked by investors about whether Sonic Frontiers was an open-world game, Sega asked them to wait for future announcements about details, but Sega mentioned that this game would not compromise on quality and that it has taken on new challenges.
“Not only for this title, but during the development phase, we have been steadily conducting analysis to improve the quality of the title before release, such as introducing game testing based on external evaluations, ” said Sega. “And I have a feeling that it will become a good game and have high expectations for it.”
The topic of pricing also came up. Since Sega is focusing on the overall quality of Sonic Frontiers, the company wants to maintain its price by making sure the value of the Sonic IP is high. Sega wants to avoid a situation where it has to lower the price of the game early on in order to increase the number of unit sales. While not an exact science, sometimes a game going on sale so soon following its release could indicate poor reception or initial sales.
Sega also says that the Sonic movie reached a significant amount of movie goers, so it’s important that the reception to the upcoming Sonic game is positive as well. “As an effect of the hit of the movie, the situations in which parents and children of two generations can enjoy Sonic IP together is increasing, so we think it is important to release high-quality games at this timing”
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 hits theaters on April 8, starring both Idris Elba as Knuckles and Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Tails. Sonic Frontiers is expected to launch this year for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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