SEGA of Japan on Sonic Frontiers: There will be “No compromise in terms of quality”
In a recent Q&A with investors, SEGA’s parent company, SEGASammy, gave more details on the Sonic series, with a special focus on the upcoming mainline game, Sonic Frontiers.
SEGASammy confirmed that they are targeting the upcoming game to go beyond the first year sales numbers of Sonic Forces, the previous mainline title, which has managed to reportedly sell over a million copies in 2018, with the game now with over 7 million copies sold. In terms of lifetime sales, they aim for a further increase in the numbers.
It was also reassured by the Japanese corporation that Frontiers won’t have issues in regards to quality, even with it posing many challenges, as it is the first time ever the hedgehog has been placed in an open world environment.
“We’d like for you to wait future announcement for the details, but this is a title with no compromise in terms of quality and that has taken on many new challenges.”
-SEGASammy
In order to assure the quality control, SEGASammy also commented that the game has been under extensive game testing, with different people all over the world being invited to playtest the game.
“We have been steadily conducting analysis to improve the quality of the title before release, such as introducing game testing based on external evaluations, and I have a feeling that it will become a good game and have high expectations for it.”
-SEGASammy
SEGASammy commented on there also being a possible change in their pricing strategy, as the previous mainline Sonic games usually went for $40 dollars, something the series has been doing as early as 2013 with Sonic Lost World, and also seen with Sonic Forces. Using Sonic Frontiers as an example, the company believed that it is important to up the suggested retail price in order to go in line with the aimed budget.
And even though SEGASammy said that Sonic has been very profitable, with it reaching “tens of billions of yen on a retail sales price basis” in Western markets, it still has challenges to face in the Asian markets, including Japan, in which the Sonic series has been known for not performing to expectations. The company intends to focus their efforts in Japan over 2022 with the release of Sonic Frontiers, as was the case for Forces in mainland China in 2017.
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