SEGA had undoubtedly imagined a completely different reception for Sonic Frontiers (Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch). Indeed, since the broadcast of the first gameplay videos, we cannot say that the hype is there. Moreover, fans did not hesitate to launch the hashtag #DelaySonicFrontiers on Twitter to encourage the Sonic Team to postpone the release of the game, disappointed by the direction taken by the series. Asked about the subject by our colleagues from Video Games Chronicle, Takashi Iizuka made it clear that he and his teams had certainties. "It's not really surprising, he said. We are aware that people react mainly to the videos they have seen, but since they have not yet identified the gameplay, they compare it to the other games they already know."
More concretely, Iizuka-san believes that the concept of Sonic Frontiers is innovative in terms of open world. As a result, he hopes that by the game's release, the Sonic Team will have the opportunity to explain their new vision of the open world. "If people come to Gamescom or Tokyo Game Show, they can get their hands on the game and understand it better," he said.
Before adding a little further: "We carried out many tests based on our target audience, namely a person who plays Sonic games and enjoys them. We were attentive to feedback, but we also had positive comments from users who told us: 'I had a lot of fun playing the game, I would rate it 80 or 90 out of 100.'" As a result, the Sonic Team judges that there is no reason to delay the release of the game; it will be released "as soon as possible", with the announced window for now being the end of this year.
In the meantime, we invite you to discover new images of the game and take a look at the gameplay videos relayed by Gematsu.