Sonic boss says series is only halfway to Disney-sized goal

Sonic is 35 years old and only halfway there. That is the verdict of Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka, the Sega studio chief in charge of the blue hedgehog.

Iizuka gave the assessment in the latest issue of Japanese magazine Continue, when asked for his outlook after Sonic's 35th anniversary, according to Video Games Chronicle. His answer looked back to the start. The original Sonic the Hedgehog development team set a goal to aim for Disney, he said.

He was told to think the same way when he joined Sega. Dream big, he was told. Use Sonic to surpass Disney. One day, even build a theme park.

Thirty-five years have passed. Sonic has not quite reached that Disney-level goal yet, Iizuka said. He believes the series still has half its potential to go.

Film is now a large part of that push. Iizuka said that after bringing the Sonic movie to life, Sega wants to share Sonic's appeal with more people who have not played the game series.

The first Sonic film was released in 2020. Since then the films have grown into a billion-dollar movie franchise.

The games remain the core, but the business around them is vast. Sonic generates over US$1 billion a year through licensing alone, according to Sega. Licensing here means paid deals that let other firms put Sonic on toys, clothes, lunchboxes and more.

For fans, this means Sega is chasing new audiences rather than selling only to players. Sega vice-president of licensing and partnerships Alex Gomez told License Global the company is focusing on groups it has underserved in the past, including women.