Keanu Reeves in Sonic x Shadow Generations Was a Secret to Everyone, Including the Developers

Sega and Paramount kept a tight lid on the reveal.

By Marc Deschamps

During yesterday's PlayStation State of Play, it was revealed that Sonic x Shadow Generations will be getting DLC inspired by Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog 3. This new content will include a design for Shadow inspired by the movie, and will even feature Keanu Reeves as Shadow's voice. In a blog post on PlayStation's official website, series producer Shun Nakamura talked about the involvement of Reeves, and a lot of the secrecy that surrounded the actor's role. Apparently, even the game's developers were not made aware that it was the voice of Reeves, with just Sonic Team's Takashi Iizuka knowing it was him.

"It was an incredibly secretive process, so when we started to implement the voice in the game, we actually weren't told who this voice is," said Nakamura. "The voice recording was handled by Iizuka-san in the US, so when we received the recorded voice files, we listened to it and felt, is this that actor…?, so we were also surprised after the official announcement from Paramount!"

The content inspired by Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be included with the digital deluxe edition of Sonic x Shadow Generations, but won't be available until December 12th, about two months after the base game's release. Details about the Sonic the Hedgehog Movie 3 pack are limited at this time, but we know that it will feature Shadow exploring a version of Tokyo modeled after the movie. The developers are based in Tokyo, but "went out for research" to gain some inspiration. 

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will arrive in theaters on December 20th. The bonus content based on the movie comes out a few days earlier, but fans shouldn't have to worry too much about spoilers. Apparently, the team has not seen the finished movie just yet, which means this content won't offer any hints as to how everything wraps up. Instead, it should just be looked at as a fun bonus to build hype for the film. 

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"We actually haven't seen the final scenes in the movie yet, so we are excited to see how close our game ends up being to the movie," said Nakamura. 

How do you feel about this movie content in Sonic x Shadow Generations? Does this make you more likely to buy the game? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

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