Sega’s president calls Sonic Superstars a ‘disappointment’

Sega president Shuji Utsumi has called Sonic Superstars a “disappointment.”

The Sega president has said that while he thinks the franchise’s most recent release, Sonic X Shadow Generations is “awesome,” he didn’t think Superstars turned out as well as the company hoped.

“We were trying to do something creative with Sonic Frontiers,” said Utsumi, speaking to Eurogamer. 

“With Sonic Superstars it turned out to be a disappointment, in terms of the outcome compared to what we delivered.

“This time we have Sonic X Shadow Generations and the next Sonic movie, so we’re pushing things in the transmedia direction – movies and games working in harmony to make things bigger. But the core [of the experience] is the game. The game needs to be very good or else there is no transmedia effect.”

Previously, the company had implied that Super Mario Bros Wonder was responsible for Sonic Superstars selling fewer copies than expected, as the two game released during the same week.

Sega had stated that Sonic Superstars had sold fewer copies than had been forecast, so during the Q&A Sega Sammy Holdings executive vice president Makoto Takahashi and IR/SR department director Nobuaki Yoshii were asked how they evaluated the game’s performance.

“Although Sonic Superstars has generally been well received by those who have played it, the timing of the launch coincided with competing titles in the same genre, and it has been short of the initial forecast,” they replied.

“The strategic expansion of Sonic IP is progressing well, and we will continue to work to increase repeat sales of this title.”

By citing “competing titles in the same genre” as a major reason, Sega essentially confirmed that releasing Sonic Superstars three days before Super Mario Bros Wonder had an impact on its sales.

During The Game Awards on Thursday, Sega announced that a new Sonic racing game was in development. An extremely brief trailer for the game showed Sonic getting into a kart and driving into a portal.

Sumo Digital developed the last three Sonic kart racing games, with all three being well-received by critics and players.