Sonic Frontiers Sequel To Get Bigger Budget After Sales Exceed Expectations

Among the major video game triumphs of 2022, Sonic Frontiers was one that did better than predictions. Even though the title received criticism for its technical issues and combat, fans of the franchise liked the game. The sales number backed up this positive reception among the fans, with the game selling nearly 3 million copies.

Now, in a new investor call, Sega has said that the sales of the title exceeded its expectations. Hence, the sequel of the platform game will have a higher budget from the basic research stage. Development costs for the follow-up will be much higher and the company expects the upcoming DLC to further boost sales.

SEGA says Sonic Frontiers sales greatly exceeded expectations and the sequel will get a bigger budget

• "the number of units sold greatly exceeded our original estimation"
• "we are proceeding with a bigger budget, even from the basic research stage."https://t.co/inHV8l65hU pic.twitter.com/ppVIiT40I0

— Benji-Sales (@BenjiSales) February 16, 2023

Sonic the Hedgehog has always been one of the best-known characters originating from video games. But, this popularity has gone up a notch in recent years due to the success of the film series starring Jim Carrey. As it turns out, the reception to the movies has also translated into the original medium.

Sonic Frontiers came out last November to mixed reviews from critics. Performance issues were a big reason for the average rating, with publications also finding flaws in combat. However, the platform game actually got a much better reaction from the fans, setting many new records.

It had the most concurrent Steam players for any Sonic game in the history of the series. Furthermore, it was nominated for the Players’ Voice award at The Game Awards, losing to Genshin Impact after a feisty battle. The sales of Sonic Frontiers further proved how much the community loved the game.

As of December 31, 2022, Sonic Frontiers has sold 2.9 million copies, which is a pretty good result for the platform adventure. Seemingly, this performance was so good that even Sega didn’t expect it. In an investor call with parent company Sega Sammy Holdings, the company said the numbers Sonic Frontiers did surpass its prediction.

The number of units sold was much more than Sega initially expected. As a result, the company will strategies to further increase the sales of Sonic Frontiers with better pricing and develop another DLC. It is better summed up in the following quote that user TailsChannel on Reddit discovered:

The number of units sold greatly exceeded our original estimation. We will continue to sell over the long term based on sales strategies such as pricing, promotions, and the development of further DLC.”

Due to the success of Sonic Frontiers, the upcoming games in the series will have larger development costs. Sega said that to ensure solid quality in its major titles, it will give them a bigger budget. Costs for developing the next games will also rise due to the external economic climate.

But, the company is ready to take on these challenges and that is why the sequel will get a higher budget. From the basic research stage, more money will be afforded to upcoming titles to get the best results.

Since it is necessary to take on these challenges for major titles, we are proceeding with a bigger budget, even from the basic research stage. Therefore, we assume that development costs for future new titles will increase accordingly.”

In the investor call, Sega also mentioned how it thinks Sonic is a widely popular title now. Sonic Frontiers had a low Metacritic score, but the game still performed really well. This has made the company believe it has found a title many people around the world accept.

It’s true that the Metacritic Score was slightly lower than we expected, but the user’s score was very high. With that, we believe we have found a title that is widely accepted by a lot of people around the world.”

Hence, it seems like the future of Sonic is looking bright and we can’t wait to see what the bigger budget achieves.