When Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is released later this year, the game will feature Sonic the Hedgehog and his supporting cast, as well as guests from other franchises. At Summer Game Fest, it was confirmed that characters from Sega franchises like Persona and Like a Dragon will be appearing, but the game will also feature guests from Minecraft, as well. News of the Minecraft content leaked prior to the event, alongside details about currently unannounced collaborations like SpongeBob SquarePants. In an interview with Video Games Chronicle, Sonic Team boss Takashi Iizuka was asked about the leaks, and the impact they can have.
Iizuka was careful to stress that he was not directly addressing any leaks related specifically to Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. However, he noted through a translator that announcements in general are planned very carefully, and a lot of effort is put into building hype around a game. When plans leak ahead of time, people are “ruining that experience.” Iizuka went a step farther and even noted that when it’s connected to a collaboration with another company, it can make plans fall through altogether.
“In the event that you’re dealing with licensed content, sometimes that leak will destroy a deal, and now you can’t do some stuff because someone leaked something,” Iizuka told Video Games Chronicle. “We realise a lot of people really, really want to know immediately all this great, cool, fun stuff. But ultimately when people leak they’re ruining the plans and potentially ruining the content, and we’d really like people to think about that and maybe not do this kind of negative stuff so much.”
It’s hard to imagine leaks actually unraveling announced deals, especially anything that’s pretty far into development. However, it does have to be frustrating for companies like Sega to plan collaborations like these ones, only for announcements to leak to the public ahead of time. The reality is, announcements at events like Summer Game Fest don’t come cheap, and publishers use these platforms to build as much hype as possible for their upcoming games. When information leaks days ahead of time, that can hurt the overall reception.
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Sega seems to have some big plans for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds in terms of collaborative content. In the game’s recent trailer, a season pass was shown, with several slots for additional characters. The first slot is for the Minecraft content, which will add Steve, Alex, and a Creeper. At the moment, there are five other slots with question marks attached. From the leaks, we can assume one of these slots will be for SpongeBob SquarePants, while another might be for content based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. For now, Sonic fans will have to wait and see what gets announced by Sega… or what ends up leaking ahead of time.
How do you feel about these types of leaks when it comes to Sonic? Do you think they could end up hurting deals? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
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