'Sonic' Games Will Continue To Be Made For Consoles: Sonic Team

Sega Sonic — The Sonic the Hedgehog character is seen behind a video game screen showing a Sega Corp logo at a game arcade in Tokyo. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

After a recent streak of bad luck and massive losses incurred by Sega Corporation of Japan, the fate of the company's commitment to developing console games hangs in the balance. Fans were fearful of the long-standing "Sonic" series of videogames being endangered amid recent developments pointing to the company's exit from console game development.

That isn't the case according to the head of Sonic Team – the Tokyo-based studio behind the "Sonic" videogame franchise. In an interview with 4Gamer, studio head Takashi Iizuka assured fans that the games will continue to be made for consoles. This assurance comes during suggestions that the company will be shifting its focus to developing games for the PC and the profitable mobile platform.

"Please rest assured, I personally have no plans to stop making Sonic games for home consoles," Iizuka said in an interview with 4Gamer. It must be noted here that Iizuka was technically speaking of his own personal decision regarding the beleaguered franchise. This statement doesn't change the official company stance on console development of future "Sonic" games.

The apprehension of "Sonic" fans is justified following the recent spate of downsizing reported by VG247. The company let go of 300 employees in January amid a massive internal restructuring campaign to cover for the recent losses. The concern was further bolstered by the company releasing "Sonic Runners." This was the first smartphone title in the series developed by the studio Sonic Team.

Gamespot reports that this development was compounded by the company's statement to investors about its decision to leave the console game development business to focus on the more profitable PC and mobile game development avenues. This seems quite plausible because console game development is quite costly owing to huge budgets and licencing fees. Moreover, the poor sales revenues generated by "Sonic Boom" games, as reported by TechnoBuffalo, haven't helped matters.

Sega has had an enormous fall from grace. During the '80s it rubbed shoulders with the big-time console players thanks to strong products such as Genesis and Saturn. However, the massive failure of the Dreamcast was damaging enough to relegate it as a third-party videogame maker catering to the same console makers that it once competed against.

However, things have gotten even worse with the recent critical failure of its latest "Sonic" games and the declining arcade and amusement market. These developments have led to the company registering a whopping $110 million loss.

In case you have any feedback or wish tip us off, the author can be contacted at nachiketpg13@hotmail.com