The Sonic Division at Sega wishes to see the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise surpassing Nintendo’s Mario, based on the latest information.
During an interview shared on the official site for Sega Japan, Sonic Division Manager Osamu Ohashi expressed his desire to see the Sonic franchise take a lead over Nintendo’s Mario. He made this statement in response to a question regarding the future development of Sonic, further mentioning that Sonic is a series that was originally developed to compete with Mario, and it hasn’t yet achieved that goal.
Ohashi stated that the Sonic Division’s goal is to catch up and surpass Mario because it respects Mario. He added that he wants people to play Sonic titles all over the world, including Japan, just like Mario. Furthermore, he said that he wants the Sonic movie to be a bigger hit than Mario. He would also like to see Universal Studios Japan create a Sonic themed amusement area similar to the Mario themed Super Nintendo World. He said that everyone at the 2nd Division loves Sonic, and would love to see the franchise reach those heights.
The Sonic Division manager also stated that he wants to build a team that can mass-produce worldwide hit titles following Sonic. He mentioned that he would like to apply the know-how that has made Sonic a hit around the world into a reproducible framework and develop other characters into IPs that can be expanded in a similar manner.
Regarding the regional popularity of the Sonic games, Ohashi stated that 95% of Sonic game sales occur overseas, and, therefore, those markets are the main target for the series. Furthermore, he mentioned that the company is making efforts to strike a balance by developing the IP in regions where Sonic is not very popular, such as Japan.
Previously, it was reported that Sega’s future plans for the Sonic franchise may have been revealed, based on an alleged PowerPoint presentation.
