In a bizarre turn of events, it appears as if something has got Sonic The Hedgehog fans on Twitter all riled up.
Over the last 24 hours, a new hashtag referring to Sega’s iconic mascot, #CancelSonicTwitter, has begun trending on the site and nobody’s exactly sure why. While it’s impossible to say with any certainty what caused the hashtag to go viral, some users believe the phrase to have originated from recent controversies surrounding Sonic Smackdown. A 2D fighting game developed by a group known only as ArcForged, Smackdown, despite looking remarkably high quality for a fan-made project, isn’t affiliated with Sega in any way and currently exists as a free download over on the creator’s website.
What the controversy seems to stems from, however, is ArcForged’s decision to allow donations from users for financial support. This undoubtedly blurs the line as far as unlicensed use of an existing IP is concerned, but Sega, somewhat humorously, isn’t the party taking issue with the situation. Despite the entire donation process being entirely voluntary, it seems the option itself has proven to be enough for some fans to voice their dissatisfaction with the idea on social media, as you can see below.
https://twitter.com/Sonic_the_Roger/status/1306952218889850883
#CancelSonicTwitter I'm 100% in support of this. cant stand that blue dildo.
— DanielDevitosDick 🏴🇬🇧 (@devitos_dick) September 18, 2020
#CancelSonicTwitter pic.twitter.com/AXSL70LBz8
— Dogmas In Comical Ketchup (@DogmasInComical) September 18, 2020
https://twitter.com/dtiltshaku/status/1306935111666020356
https://twitter.com/Hatty39612663/status/1306931325266464768
https://twitter.com/cheesus_swiss/status/1306910082081476611
https://twitter.com/darkdev04/status/1306899836738961408
#CancelSonicTwitter
idk what this hashtag is for but fuck modern sonicstan these games and dont accept the shitty meme-fueled crap we get nowadays pic.twitter.com/Z7Jd3178bL
— ven. (@venturesonic2) September 18, 2020
An alternative explanation, on the other hand, is that a collective of Sonic fans, impatiently waiting for Sega’s big 30th anniversary announcement for the franchise, have chosen to use Twitter as an outlet for their boredom. Then again, given its reputation for light-hearted trolling and never-ending memes, we wouldn’t at all be surprised if Sonic The Hedgehog‘s official home on the platform somehow had a hand in all of this.
Whatever the case, #CancelSonicTwitter has since devolved into a good-natured meme in and of itself, and you can join in on the fun by hitting the link down below.