Sega held a Sonic Central livestream today where chief brand and business officer Ivo Gerscovich and Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka gave some updates on existing Sonic the Hedgehog games, merchandise, and other multimedia projects. Projects discussed included Sonic Frontiers, Sonic Origins, and Sonic Prime.
Sega showed off a clip from Sonic Frontiers in which Sonic battles a cybernetic dragon that leaves behind a trail for him to run on and shoots out fireballs along the trail. The company also revealed through a hands-on preview from IGN that there will be a skill tree in the game, filled with new combat skills that Sonic can buy with EXP he collects from defeating enemies in the game’s open-zone areas.
In addition to the new gameplay footage, Sega shared a sneak peek of a new Sonic animated short called Sonic Frontiers Prologue. The short takes place before the events of the game, with the preview showing a foreboding scene of Knuckles guarding the Master Emerald against a thunderstorm.
Speaking of sneak peeks, Sega gave another one for Sonic’s Netflix animated series Sonic Prime, featuring the appearance of Shadow the Hedgehog. A release date for the series was not revealed as the trailer just says it’s “coming soon.” The Sonic 30th Anniversary Symphony concert is going on a world tour, which can now be attended in person. Tour dates have yet to be announced, but it will perform at the Brazil Game Show in October. The Sonic Central stream also presented a new trailer for Sonic Origins, which mostly reiterated information we knew but also revealed its island-based UI.
The rest of the presentation showed off a sneak preview of Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s Blu-Ray release as well as some new merchandise. Upcoming Sonic-based collaborations include the Knuckles G-Fuel energy drink, Tails and Amy Rose resin figure from First 4 Figures, the Egg Mobile battle set from Jakks Pacific, a Sonic Xbox controller with accompanying charging stand from Razer, new posters from Moor Art, and Sonic apparel and accessories from Hype.
Sonic Frontiers will be released later this year.
