During my recent trip to the Tokyo Game Show, I was able to spend some pre-show time in the heart of Tokyo and visit iconic game companies like Sega.
Sega is excited about the upcoming third Sonic movie coming to theaters, which has contributed to the series’ resurgence in recent years.
At Sega’s headquarters in Tokyo, I was invited to tour the company’s common areas and have lunch with a group of influential people. One influencer wore a large fake beard and a round black ball, and another said he creates Sonic content every day of the year. We all needed to play the upcoming PC and mobile game Sonic Rumble on our smartphones. The game was very similar to Fall Guys (using only characters from the Sonic games), a cute battle royale where players compete in obstacle course races on crazy courses.
The next day, I interviewed the team leaders in the Tokyo Game Show press room. We spoke with Takashi Iizuka, head of Sega’s Sonic franchise, and Makoto Tase, game director of Sonic Rumble. This is an edited transcript of our interview.
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GamesBeat: Can you talk about the game’s origins, its inspiration, and what you’re trying to accomplish?
Takashi Iizuka: Project Begins – Sega is currently developing other Sonic mobile games, including Sonic Forces and Sonic Dash. However, they are not from Sega in Japan. On the other hand, Sega Japan has some hit mobile titles, but none that use Sonic. We wanted to use the development team at Sega Japan to create a game using Sonic. It all started from there.
GamesBeat: What do you think about the series? And how often do you hope to make Sonic games? Interesting that one of the creators talked about making Sonic content every day. It was something.
Iizuka: Regarding consumer titles, our goal is to release one title every year. Sonic Rumble is coming to the mobile side this year. We wanted to do something for Sonic on mobile. In addition to that, there are also movies, anime, and manga. These sit between major consumer and mobile titles. We’ll be rolling out all of this throughout the year to keep Sonic fans excited.
GamesBeat: Now that the movie has been such a success, will the Sonic game developers need more time to direct more of that movie content as well?
Iizuka: Even before the success of the movie, we had core Sonic fans. Since then, he has gained new fans through movies. As a result, we don’t see any problems with the development team, but they need to create a title that can also excite new Sonic fans. It may become a new challenge in creating new titles.
GamesBeat: How would you describe Sega’s strategy in other media in the wake of these movies?
Iizuka: Within SEGA, the Sonic brand defines the company’s overall transmedia strategy. I immigrated to the United States nine years ago. During that time, Sonic’s brand reached a very low bar. Users weren’t really interested in Sonic. It wasn’t popular. From that experience, we had to make games, make anime, make movies, and restore core Sonic fans. I also had to find a new Sonic fan. By taking time and gaining more fans, we were ultimately able to find success with the Sonic IP. It’s the same strategy we’re currently pursuing with Sega’s other IPs.
GamesBeat: We saw a game on Roblox that was played over a billion times and was a huge success. I was surprised to see that out of the 400+ brands currently on Roblox, Sonic is number one. Were you surprised at all? How did you pull it off?
Iizuka: Previous Sonic titles primarily created consumer games that users had to purchase to play. Roblox is free, and a lot of young people, a lot of kids, play games there. The original goal was to find more new users who could play and learn about Sonic within Roblox. We thought it would be a great experience for new users to discover Sonic IP. However, the development team has to update Roblox games every week, which is a daunting task. However, I feel that it was a very good experience for the company.
GamesBeat: Are you thinking more about user-generated content? Will we someday allow users to create their own Sonic experiences?
Iizuka: We don’t have any plans for user-generated content at this time, but we’re seeing fans creating their own fan games. We follow it and enjoy watching it from time to time.
GamesBeat: Sonic Rumble, do you think the game fits into a particular genre alongside games like Fall Guys? Are there any special twists that make it very Sega, very Sonic?
Makoto Tase: Compared to other titles, I feel that Sonic has the sense of speed that everyone is familiar with. We wanted it to be a very Sonic-like game, so that was the first thing we thought about. This is to show that we have implemented features and stage types that show Sonic’s speed in the game. We also feel that Sonic is a very strong IP when compared to games like Fall Guys and Stumble Guys. Unique stages, character expressions, and the world of Sonic. It affects both core Sonic fans and new Sonic fans. These are some of the unique strengths of our game.
Users compete to get as many rings as possible and can also compete against each other for rings. Its competitive aspect brings a combination of excitement and frustration. There is a lot of excitement within the game.
GamesBeat: Sonic and Angry Birds, do you see some similarities between the characters from these series?
Iizuka: In March, we ran a cross-promotion between mobile Angry Birds and Sonic. Both feature animal-based characters. We feel that this cross-promotion has had a positive impact. These two IPs have a good relationship with each other. Both audiences seemed to enjoy that cross-promotion. If I have the opportunity in the future, I would definitely like to do it again.
GamesBeat: One of the interesting things about Angry Birds is that you can learn how to play in seconds. It’s a very friendly game. What do you think we can learn from such simplicity?
Tase: Rovio has a lot of experience creating mobile titles. They know how to make mobile games successful. They know how to make it accessible to many users. They understand the marketing side of things on a world-class level. Their experience has definitely been taken into account in the creation of this game. We are happy to collaborate with them and learn from their experiences.
GamesBeat: When I played yesterday, I realized that you could make one or more mistakes and not necessarily end up in last place. I was still able to recover and catch up. I thought it was interesting that you don’t have to give up even if you fail.
Tase: When we were creating this game, we wanted to reach a wide audience. As you said, if users make a mistake once and see the better player win first every time, it won’t be as interesting to a wide audience. That’s why there are some random elements, some comeback elements, those aspects of the game. We will do our best to allow as many users as possible to enjoy the game.
GamesBeat: Will PC players play alongside mobile players or are the platforms separated in multiplayer?
Tase: At the moment, we believe they can be played at the same time. At first we had some conversations about balance. While this game may be easier to play with a controller, we’re not into games that focus on the competitive aspect of games like League of Legends. We didn’t think skill was the only thing that mattered in this game. I wanted to add more of a party element. We wanted as many people as possible to play the game. That’s why we decided to make the same games available to PC and mobile players.
GamesBeat: Is there anything else you would like to highlight today?
Tase: The number of stages and the variety of stages is one of the things we wanted to emphasize. There are 35 stages in the pre-launch phase, with more expected to arrive at global launch. Each stage has a different game design. Each stage has a very different personality. I think users will enjoy every stage. We hope users will enjoy watching it.
Iizuka: We plan to launch this winter, and once we go live, we’ll have new content published every few weeks. This is one of the big advantages of live gaming over traditional consumer gaming. Sonic has many characters, but users can play with some of the minor characters. These characters will get a chance to become heroes in this game. We are also planning collaborations with other IPs, and we hope that users will enjoy them as well.
