After decades in a spin, Sonic’s break-out leaves Sega hoping for more

TOKYO, Feb. 28 (BUS): Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings Inc hopes to ride the fast-moving poncho of Sonic the Hedgehog as the character enjoys a renaissance amid a global struggle for entertainment content.

This year sees the release of a sequel to the record-breaking Hollywood movie and Netflix series, along with a title Sega hopes to revive the fortunes of the long-running Sonic game franchise after decades of turmoil.

“Sonic is the face of Sega. If Sonic is doing well, Sega is doing fairly well as well,” said Shuji Utsumi, Sega’s chief operating officer, in an interview with Reuters.

Blue camouflage became a household name in the West in a series of side-scrolling games in the 1990s on the Sega Mega Drive console, also known as the Sega Genesis in North America, which outperformed the Nintendo Super NES in many countries.

“Sonic was great with humor and attitude… it resonated in the West,” said Utsumi, who worked at Sony when it launched the first PlayStation.

Unlike Nintendo’s Mario, who has starred in decades of popular titles, Sonic has struggled to make the transition to 3D gaming as Sega pulled out of the commercial console to become a game publisher.

Now, after years of trial and error during which Sega merged with slot machine maker Pachinko’s Sammy, Sonic has resurrected his career as a movie star as studios raid corporate rooms for not using mass-appealing characters.

Sonic-related sales, including from the film, quadrupled in the five years to the fiscal year that ended in March 2021.

The game series has a committed and long-suffering fan base in the West, unlike other Sega franchises such as “Yakuza” and “Persona”, which have a large audience in Japan.

“It’s definitely a nostalgic love for him,” said Jacob Mills, 31, a British game level designer, referring to the hedgehog. Mills plays new versions of Sonic and describes his excitement as “a shared experience of mutual disappointment.”

The initial prospects for Paramount’s first Sonic movie, which featured Jim Carrey, looked in doubt when a trailer showing the prominent white-toothed character was mocked on social media.

The studio tweaked the design, and the movie eventually grossed more than $300 million worldwide — becoming one of the highest-grossing video game adaptations — after releasing in 2020 during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Sonic the Hedgehog 2” will be released in April. The importance of the franchise for Paramount was emphasized in an investor presentation earlier this month outlining the company’s future and the announcement of a second Sonic sequel along with a hybrid animated/live series about the streaming service’s character Knuckles. A separate animated series is slated to release on Netflix this year.

“This is another huge privilege for us and Shiga,” Brian Robbins, president of Paramount Pictures, told Reuters. During the presentation, Paramount CEO Bob Bakish said that Sonic’s investment is part of a broader commitment to franchises that include movies and series. Shares have fallen into doubts about whether content can compete in the increasingly crowded live streaming market.

Sega embraced the Sonic community, and in 2017 launched Sonic Mania, a widely acclaimed retro platformer that began its life as a fan-made game before the company backed it.

An artist from the game later worked with Paramount on the Sonic movie, and Sega humorously interacts with fans via the Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter account, which has 5.8 million followers.

Expectations are growing for Sonic Frontiers, an open world platform game set to launch this year. The format is new to the franchise, whose other games have been purchased or downloaded 1.38 billion times.

Sega didn’t feature any gameplay on the title, which is a year late, and wary fans are pointing to “Sonic Cycle,” where excitement and talk of a comeback in preparation for a new release were shattered by disappointment in the game’s gameplay.

Utsumi said the impact of production earnings related to Sonic will “be appreciable” in the fiscal year beginning in April, without providing further details.

This month, the company raised its full-year operating profit forecast by a third to 31 billion yen ($268 million). The console was boosted by sales of titles like “Shin Megami Tensei V” RPG for the Nintendo Switch.

Utsumi, who returned to Sega two years ago after founding his own game company and working at Disney and Warner Music, says the company is a “treasure island” of more marketable content.

Other Japanese characters joining the climax include Minions’ upcoming Super Mario movie Illumination and the Netflix live-action remake of the 1990s anime Cowboy BeBop released last year.

Sega has a close relationship with Xbox maker Microsoft, and in November said it was exploring an alliance to develop titles using cloud technology for the Washington-based company Redmond.

In the long term, Sega aims to create a “super game” of universal appeal – which will perhaps be part of the “metaverse,” the buzzing term for a network of continuous online simulated environments.

Utsumi said Sega, whose shares are up 16% since the start of the year, has a long history of experience across arcade, console, and genre games.

“There is no one better than us to do this,” he said.

HF