Sonic Team confirms the next major Sonic game is already in development

Takashi Iizuka confirms during Tokyo Game Show that Sonic Team has commenced development on the next mainline Sonic title, aiming to forge a fresh gameplay direction for the 35-year-old series.

Sonic is 35 this year, but Sega is not planning to let the blue hedgehog spend middle age quietly tending a garden. Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka has confirmed during the Tokyo Game Show period that development is underway on the next major Sonic title. There is no platform list, release window or formal title yet, so anyone already circulating Sonic Adventure 3 logos should probably put Photoshop down for a moment.

What Iizuka has said is more interesting than a simple confirmation, however: the team wants to create a new type of gameplay experience through its characters, story and game systems. He pointed to Sonic Colors and Sonic Frontiers as previous examples of entries that materially changed how the series played rather than simply rearranging familiar pieces.

Sonic occupies a peculiar position in retro gaming because the franchise is simultaneously current and permanently tied to the Mega Drive era. New Sonic projects therefore tend to trigger two conversations at once: what comes next, and how much of 1991 should come along for the ride. Sega has offered no concrete details yet, so this is firmly an early-development story rather than an announcement trailer in disguise. Still, confirmation that the next main game is underway gives the 35-year-old series another checkpoint beyond compilations, remasters and anniversary merchandise.