It has been a good couple of years for Sonic The Hedgehog fans. The successful movie has brought the famous blue blur back into the spotlight, and the 30th anniversary celebrations led to plenty of new Sonic-themed products and games.
While the Sonic Central 30th anniversary live stream featured a teaser trailer for the next 3D Sonic game, the teased game didn’t have a name or confirmed release date at the time.
At Thursday night’s Game Awards, some of the mystery around the game was unveiled for Sonic fans, as it was revealed that Sonic Frontiers is the next mainline Sonic game.
The trailer shown off for gaming fans on Thursday picked up where the teaser left off, with Sonic blasting through the forest at high speed while a strange wave of energy pursues him. Fans were then treated to several panning shots of lush locations before Sonic turns to face his pursuer. However, before he can do anything, a disembodied voice whispers: “Don’t, it’s too dangerous.”
The trailer ends with a quick glimpse of the thing that was persuing Sonic, revealing the leg of a giant, seemingly robotic creature.
The press release that went along with the trailer gives us slightly more information about the game. The release confirms that it is being made by Sonic Team Japan. Morio Kishimoto, the man who directed Sonic Forces and the Wii U version of Sonic Lost World, will be the game’s director, and Sachiko Kawamura will be producing it. The game will tell an original story, penned by Ian Flynn, famous for his work on the Sonic The Hedgehog comics published by IDW and Archie Comics.
Interestingly, a tweet from Sega says that fans will “experience the thrill of high velocity and open-zone freedom,” making many fans wonder if this game will be open-world like Legend Of Zelda: Breath of The Wild.
Sonic Frontiers will be released on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The game is available to pre-order now, but it appears it won’t be released until the 2022 holiday season.
Update/Correction, Dec. 10 1:16pm CT: Sega provided a quote from Takashi Iizuka, Creative Officer at Sonic Team USA, noting “Sonic Frontiers is a huge leap forward for the franchise, delivering an evolved gameplay experience that can be enjoyed by longtime Sonic fans and action-adventure enthusiasts alike. With the effort of the talented developers at Sonic Team Japan, we’ve created an all-new style of gameplay experience for Sonic the Hedgehog, where players will be able to explore lush and expansive landscapes with Sonic’s signature speed and abilities. There’s sure to be lots of twists and turns around every corner in ‘Sonic Frontiers,’ and we’re excited to unveil more information about the game over the coming months.”
Additionally, the original version of this article included a description of the game, quoted from a Polygon article, that a representative for Sega characterized as containing “incorrect details.” We regret the error.