It seems that something big is coming to the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise in a couple of years. Sonic Team is hinting that it may be releasing a new Sonic game in 2021.
Talking to GameInformer, Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka talked about the studio’s plans for the Sonic the Hedgehog. As part of this, Iizuka mentioned that 2021 will be a “big year” for Sonic, comparing it to 2017. The latter was the year the team released both Sonic Mania, and Sonic Forces.
“2017 was a big year for Sonic,” Iizuka said. “The next big year for Sonic is 2021. That’s the 30-year anniversary for Sonic. We are now preparing.”
Sonic Mania was a modern take on classic 2D Sonic, imagining what a hypothetical Sega Saturn incarnation of the franchise would look like. Former Sonic fan-game creator Christian Whitehead worked on the game, using the same engine he used for the iOS ports of the Genesis Sonic games.
On the other hand, Sonic Forces is the most recent mainline 3D Sonic game. It also serves as a sequel of sorts to Sonic Mania. While the game received ho-hum reviews, many fans enjoyed it for its character creator. Fan-made original characters have been a big part of the Sonic community, after all. The feature finally allowed fans to play them in a proper Sonic game.
With this comparison, as well as it being the franchise’s 30th anniversary, Sega and Sonic Team will most likely release the next mainline Sonic game in 2021. After all, Sonic Forces‘ predecessor Sonic Generations came out during the series’ 20th anniversary in 2011. However, with the success of Sonic Mania, it seems likely that the studio will release a sequel for it as well. That latter was much better received by both fans and press alike, after all, so a sequel to it feels like a no-brainer.
