Sega confirms that several new Sonic the Hedgehog mobile titles are in development after its acquisition of Angry Birds developer Rovio. Earlier this year, the Finnish game developer announced it was open to being sold to another company, with Sega being among one of its potential buyers. After a few months, with the earliest talks around April, Sega finalized its acquisition of the Angry Birds developer in August, with the studio fully coming under Sega's umbrella in September.

With Sega's acquisition of Rovio, the company was going to shift into making some of its IPs more global, with the acquisition of Rovio being a way to help facilitate this transition. According to a presentation concerning the start of Sega's 2023 fiscal year, Sega was looking to work with Rovio and make a splash in the mobile game market, using the Angry Birds IP while expanding upon its legacy franchises. It appears the company's emblematic Sonic the Hedgehog franchise will be one of the properties pushed to the forefront of this global mobile IP expansion effort.

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In a presentation from Sega Sammy from earlier this December, Sega highlighted some of its strategies following the acquisition of Rovio, detailed in its own separate slide. In this slide, it explicitly mentions how multiple Sonic the Hedgehog titles for mobile devices are in development. The context of this slide suggests these games are being developed in collaboration with Rovio, considering how these games are listed alongside the Beacon suite, which is Rovio's in-house game development tool set.

Other IPs that are being supported post-Rovio acquisition are Hatsune Miku for mobile alongside Angry Birds for PC and console, as well as future collaboration opportunities in new and existing games. According to Sega, this push for mobile gaming is going to help facilitate its global gaming strategy, pushing to expand its markets in Asia and China. Other regions include Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and other countries. For example, the China-exclusive Persona 5: The Phantom X is one of these efforts to expand its market.

Alongside these global expansion plans, Sega revealed some other details about its upcoming plans for 2024, such as Atlus' Metaphor: ReFantazio, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and classic SEGA IP revivals like Streets of Rage: Revolution. Sega fans have a lot to look forward to in 2024, from new entries in classic Sega IPs to a bunch of new Sonic content, especially after Sonic the Hedgehog's strong presence in 2023.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog is a prolific game franchise that started life on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. Covering both 2D and 3D iterations through the generations, Sonic is known for speedy movements and interesting platforming mechanics.