With mainstream interest in Sonic The Hedgehog blooming once more due to the success of last year’s live-action movie adaptation, it would appear as though Sega is hoping to capitalize on the franchise’s renaissance, so to speak, with some interesting new ventures.
According to Ryokutya2089 (H/T, Siliconera), a well-known member of the Sonic fandom and community, Sega art director Kazuyuki Hoshino has recently gone on record to confirm that the developer as a whole is looking into opening a theme park dedicated to the world’s fastest hedgehog. This initiative is being worked on alongside attempts at transforming the character into a VTuber (virtual YouTuber), though no further details are provided.
Indeed, it’s not immediately clear where and to whom Hoshino made these comments, though Siliconera notes that Ryokutya’s source is likely to be an upcoming issue of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, which contains a special column dedicated to Sonic’s 30th birthday.
Whatever the case, assuming anything of the sort ever materializes, it’ll be interesting to see where Sega plans to open a park. The company has attempted something similar before with SegaWorld London back in the 90s – an indoor amusement facility situated in Piccadilly Circus. The venue struggled to make a profit during its three years of operation and closed its doors for good in 1999. Lessons learned from those unfortunate circumstances will hopefully be taken into consideration for future endeavors.
As for future games and films, a new entry in the former is planned for release in 2022 while Sonic The Hedgehog 2, a direct sequel to 2020’s film, is now in production and will mark the debut of more characters, including Tails and Knuckles. See here for all the latest information.
