‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ Franchise Reaches 800 Million Units Sold

It’s funny how Sega‘s Sonic the Hedgehog managed to get, ahem, up to speed after all these years. And it’s paid off big time for the publisher, as it’s reached a huge new sales record.

Based on a Sega Sammy Integrated Sales report that just published, the Sonic franchise has managed to reach 800 million units sold across its entire IP (products included) in its lifetime, starting with the original Sonic the Hedgehog game that launched on the Sega Genesis back in 1991.

That’s an impeccable record, especially considering that the hero has had his fair share of hits and misses over the years. For every game that’s failed miserably like Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric for Wii U and his self-titled adventure for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 that released back in 2006 (the one where he, GASP, kissed a human girl), there’s also been a fair share of hits, such as Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic R and Sonic Generations. Not to mention his role in compilations like Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection, Sonic Jam and Sega Genesis Classics.

Lately, Sonic’s been on a roll (no pun intended), with last year’s Sonic Forces doing fairly well as a spiritual Generations follow-up; and Sonic Mania has sold suitably well for a retro-based title. That said, we’re not sure when his next title, Team Sonic Racing, will arrive, as there have been reports that it could be delayed to 2019.

For the time being, though, Sonic has enough goodness to get him through the holiday season, what with Sonic Forces being reasonably priced and Sonic Mania Plus offering hours of old-school fun. For that matter, several of his older games are also playable through Xbox Live backward compatibility, including Sonic Generations and the unbeatable racing game Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed, which has seen a resurgence in popularity for the first time since its initial release back in 2012.

It’s unknown what direction Sonic will be taking next after Team Sonic Racing eventually releases, but Sega probably has some big plans in store for its speedy little hero. Congrats to Sonic Team, Sumo Digital, Christian Whitehead and the other developers that have kept his energy going over the past two and a half decades. Here’s to another 20+ something years of speedy little adventures. (Also, can we have a real sequel to Transformed?)

You can check out his latest adventures, Sonic Forces and Sonic Mania Plus, now for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC!