The head of Sonic Team has now confirmed that, after months of players feeling like there was a shift in the direction of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, the studio truly is aiming to make sure the hedgehog's many media appearances are consistent. While some parts of the brand aren't part of this unification effort, fans can expect Sonic Frontiers, the Sonic IDW comics, and the upcoming 3D animated Sonic TV show to be relatively similar to one another as if they exist in the same universe.
This information comes from an interview Sonic the Hedgehog fan-site the Sonic Stadium conducted with the head of Sonic Team, Takashi Iizuka, at Gamescom. When asked about what it means for the most prominent writer of the Sonic comics, Ian Flynn, to write for Sonic Frontiers, Iizuka said that it was important in order to bring the games and the comics "closer together."
From there, Sonic Team's leader states that when it came to the fact that the Sonic franchise has now branched out even further into movies, TV, and comics, it has been the studio's desire to try and "solidify everything" in order to make everything about the blue hedgehog more of a cohesive experience altogether. The last time Sonic Team attempted something like this can be traced back all the way to 2005, where the entire voice actor lineup for the games was changed to reflect Sonic X, the anime broadcasting on US television networks at the time.
While this new outlook for the Sonic franchise as a whole is meant to make sure players can enjoy every piece of media featuring the blue blur and his friends going forward without being too confused or lost, it's ultimately just a nicer way of saying that Sonic Team aims to bring stability to the Sonic the Hedgehog brand. This isn't a bad thing by any stretch, as that's been something series loyalists have desired for quite some time.
However, even though Sonic Team aims to be more consistent, the many Sonic media outlets are at the same time being allowed to try different things to one another. Iizuka openly states that while the upcoming TV show, Sonic Prime, the comics, and future games will feel like they're from the same universe, they actually won't be canonically. He also makes a point to mention that the movies exist separately outside of this as their narrative doesn't fit in with everything else at this time. Still, after years of every Sonic the Hedgehog project running towards different goals, a sense of direction may bring the famous hedgehog to new heights going forward.
Source: Sonic Stadium