Introduction: The Sonic franchise has many offshoots and spinoffs on the video game market. But, so far, only a single outsourced RPG title made it out of the entire series. Now, Takashi Iizuka, the head of the Team Sonic at Sega publicly stated that he and his team would love to create a role-playing title in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe.
Article: The genre of role-playing games or RPGs is a vibrant development space. That comes despite the fact that this type of game is one of the oldest on the market, with many famous titles like The Bard’s Tale celebrating 40 or more years since their release. In the present period, the longevity of RPGs is more than apparent, and interestingly enough, it is so widespread that it covers a huge range of productions. That is why there are contemporary RPG mega-hits like Baldur’s Gate 3, which is a premium AAA title that a big team developed over several years. It also continues the series that began two decades ago, using the well-established Dungeons & Dragons systems. On the other hand, there are numerous smaller RPG productions, including indie releases that were created by tiny teams or even individual developers with their custom rulesets.
Sea of Stars is a great example, but so is the Darkest Dungeon series and many others. Here, players and developers alike can see a huge selection of themes and atmospheres that RPGs offer. That includes even substantially different core gameplay mechanics, which is why many RPG titles actually involve a mix of first-person shooter or third-person action genres. Games including Cyberpunk 2077 and the Witcher series became planetary hits because of that fusion of genres. However, when the Sonic the Hedgehog series is mentioned, most tend to think about fast-paced racing action in a platformer-like environment. While this might be the case for most of the games in this beloved series, its main development branch at Sega, Team Sonic, and its boss, would like to branch out into RPG. Takashi Iizuka, game director and key figure at Team Sonic, recently stated that he, just like co-workers, would love to get a chance to work on a Sonic role-playing game in the future. Naturally, the reaction of the fans was overwhelmingly positive, and even though there is no confirmation that such a game is in the works, a Sonic RPG release seems more than feasible.
Iizuka Summer Game Fest Interview
The notion of the Sonic franchise moving into the RPG domain came from Takashi Iizuka himself. That occurred at the latest Summer Game Fest, where Good Vibes Gaming conducted an interview with the famous Sega video game director. Here, a question from the community appeared during the interview. It noted that Sega has a range of great RPG studios inside of its company, including Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Atlus, so a Sonic role-playing game would make perfect sense. Iizuka agreed with the notion immediately, stating that he himself loves RPG games and the format in which they can be presented. He then said that he would love to work on an RPG Sonic game before he retires from the industry. Being that Iizuka was born in 1970, that still leaves him with plenty of time to launch such a project. He also underlined during the interview that this is presently nothing more than a personal dream of his. Sega has no Sonic RPG title in development or planning at the present moment, according to Iizuka.
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
The Sonic franchise has numerous video game offshoots. These include pinball games, racing titles, sports, and party games, thanks to the fact that these genres best fit the frantic and high-speed Sonic brand. However, the franchise does have one RPG in its selection and this is a game called Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. This title came out in 2008 for Nintendo DS, but it was not produced by Team Sonic or even Sega. Instead, BioWare development studio got the job from Sega. The game was a turn-based role-playing game where Sonic and the gang took on the Nocturnus Clan. At that point, BioWare was famous for other RPG games like Dragon Age and Mass Effect. However, this title ended up being a big flop. It had gotten mixed reviews from the gaming press and later on, a lawsuit related to plagiarism between the creation of Nocturnus Clan and the older works from Archie Comics Sonic appeared as well. All of this impacted its place inside of the Sonic game lore, which is why it is presently considered non-canon, and no sequel was ever considered.
Numerous RPG Possibilities
Team Sonic would have a huge range of options for any potential RPG title. First of all, the creators would have access to many recognizable characters, all with their special abilities and plenty of personality. Besides the titular Sonic, there are Shadow, Knuckles, Blaze, and Silver. There are also many others just as interesting in the wider Sonic universe, including characters from the IDW Comics. With any of them, having a role-playing game system would be a natural fit. That could include very light and simple RPG environments and rulesets, but also more serious and in-depth gameplay mechanics. Iizuka and his team would be free to choose whatever seems more interesting to them and a better fit for the broader Sonic gaming series.
Markets and Development Windows
There is no Sonic RPG game in the works presently at Sega. Takashi Iizuka made sure to underline that as clearly as possible. However, there are some factors that will undoubtedly impact the possible development of such a game. First is the factor of market circumstances. Right now, the gaming market is in a state of steady spending decline. After the early 2020s, when a lot of excess cash was flowing around the global gaming market, the present period is seeing a strong cooldown of that trend. In those circumstances, companies are much more willing to invest in famous intellectual properties like Sonic the Hedgehog. This is something that Iizuka and Team Sonic could use to get this RPG project rolling. But, the second factor is the development window. A game like this would likely take at least two years to complete through its full pre-production, production, and post-production cycle. So, even with the prospect of getting the green light for the project, Iizuka and his team would not be able to get a Sonic RPG game to the markets before 2026. But, the vast majority of Sonic fans would be more than willing to wait for such a game whenever it came out.
Author: Ivica Milaric, game designer and assistant professor of game design at the Novi Sada Academy of Arts, Republic of Serbia