Sega Removing Some Sonic the Hedgehog Games From Sale

Sonic Origins developer and publisher Sega has announced that it will be removing several digital versions of classic Sonic the Hedgehog video games from sale. More specifically, the digital standalone versions of all of the titles set to be part of Sonic Origins will be delisted from various platforms with only a few exceptions on May 20th ahead of the new video game collection's release date in June.

The delisted, digital standalone titles include Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and Sonic CD. However, Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will remain available via SEGA AGES on the Nintendo Switch and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 specifically will still be playable as part of the Sega Genesis portion of Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack.

Sonic Origins includes newly remastered versions of the titles being delisted, and will itself launch on June 23rd for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. The kindest possible viewing of the announcement of the delistings would be that Sega does not wish to cause confusion while the most suspicious would be that it would rather not have a bunch of cheaper digital versions of the same video games floating around while trying to sell an expensive upgrade. Folks that didn't take kindly to how Sonic Origins handles extra content DLC likely will not care for this decision either. That extra content comes in different tiers but does offer added features and modes and more for a higher price.

As noted above, the digital, standalone versions of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and Sonic CD. will be delisted from the vast majority of places as of May 20th. Sonic Origins is set to launch for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on June 23rd starting at $39.99. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise in general right here.

What do you make of Sega delisting the older Sonic the Hedgehog games ahead of the release of Sonic Origins? Are you shocked to see these video games get delisted? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop in order to talk about all things gaming!

[H/T Engadget]