UPDATE: (Read Below) Sonic Frontiers Likely Has A Marketing Deal With PlayStation. Now What?

 

 

Hey all, I've got more articles to do than I know what to do with, so I'm just throwing 'em out one after another here. I have a feeling this week is going be rather busy, so this will be far from the last you see of me. *Ahem* 

Without further ado...

So, as you (probably) saw in the last article, Sony had strung out a multitude of deals with third party companies, including Capcom, Square and Bandai Namco. We've already seen some of those deals taking place at last week's showcase. One stuck out to many people though, myself included, and that was the appearance of certain blue hedgehog's collectable item:

 

SEGA's next big Sonic game, which is almost confirmed to be an open world title, has likely caught the eye of Sony, and that's a big deal, for not just Sony, but Sonic. I'll break down some reasons why.

1.) Open World IS The Hotness Right Now

In terms of the gaming landscape, nothing is bigger than open world/sandbox games right now.  Breath of the Wild has sold over 20 million copies, Mario Odyssey has sold over 20 million copies, Horizon was Sony's most successful new IP debut in ages, and Ghosts of Tsushima continued that trend. GTA V and Skyrim continue to push units, Assassin's Creed has been open world for a long time now, and now, even Pokemon and Halo are about to take their own cracks at it. It was only a matter of time before SEGA tried to get their slice in on the action, and while many will accuse them of chasing trends, this is where the real gaming money is being made right now. It's a very smart move, from a business perspective. There's room for a lot of success here.

2.) Sony Needs More Family Friendly Games 

A problem some have with the PS5's lineup right now is the lack of prominent family friendly games, outside of Ratchet and Clank, which is definitely a big title for them, but that's only one game. This problem was exacerbated again last week during their showcase, where there was a single game that could be called "E Rated". While I like violent, bloody action games as much as the next guy, you need more than that to have a diverse lineup of games. Sony's rumored upcoming Sly Cooper title is the only first party game that's going to be considered "family friendly, as far as we can tell, so going to third parties for marketing games such as Sonic, Crash Bandicoot and Pac Man is a smart move. Families are more inclined to buy consoles when they have games that appeal to younger audiences. That's been the case since the beginning.

3.) Sony Are Impressed With The New Sonic Game (Probably)

This one is a bit more speculative, but here goes. When these kinds of deals happen, developers/publishers give constant updates/looks at the game internally until it's ready. This one is no different. We know from the leaks that the game was being played by testers about a year and a half ago. Given that this game is on it's fourth year of development now, it's most certainly come a long way since then, quality wise. The Hedgehog Engine 2 is an extremely capable engine, if done right, regardless of how the game turns out, it will be a looker and when it comes to marketing a game, visuals are important. You don't spend millions of marketing dollars on a game you think will be garbage. It makes no business sense. Sony thought it was impressive looking enough to pay millions of marketing dollars for it, alongside the likes of Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Final Fantasy, Tekken and numerous others. That says a lot. Sonic's games may fluctuate wildly in terms of game quality, but he's still a titan when it comes to icon status. The movie's success also definitely played a part in this. 

Here's some things that are fair to expect out of a deal like this:

A Big Push From PlayStation: 

When deals like this are made, companies sign over marketing rights to the company that purchased them for the particular product. Nintendo and Microsoft will not be getting any of that moolah here. Of course, they'll still be putting trailers of Frontiers onto their social media, but that's the full of extent of that. Expect many ads, features and posts from the PlayStation blog promoting the game. It'll be marketed *like* it's a PlayStation exclusive, but it obviously isn't. Things like exclusive content for the PS4/5 versions of the game, and/or a special edition console are not out of the question. It's a win win in both situations. SEGA's game gets a big push from the big three, and Sony can sell consoles by marketing a huge game starring a world renowned character.

Sonic May Show Up Alongside Playstation Icons:

Another point regarding these deals is that characters, first and third party, show up in PlayStation themed ads, such as this one:

 

https://youtu.be/KTDETYChogU

So Sonic running around with the likes of Ratchet and Clank, Cloud Strife, Sly, Leon Kennedy, Aloy, Kratos and so on in commerical from is a strong possibility. SEGA has practically crossed Sonic over with everything else this year, so why not? 

Promotion in PlayStation Presentations:

A big part of a deal like this is that games are typically announced at PlayStation events. For example, the last four major Resident Evil games have all been announced at Sony events. Final Fantasy, has also had things like this. A big example is that the resurgence of Final Fantasy VII Remake was announced at a State of Play, their equivalent of a Nintendo Direct. It's safe to say something like this for Sonic is also reasonably possible.

With all of that said, this is something that will evolve in the next few months. This leaves me a bit more confident in the quality of the game. We still probably have some waiting to do before this is all confirmed, so we'll have to wait and see. 

I've got more articles to finish up, so I'll get back to that. Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon! 

Update/Quick PSA: A “Sonictuber” by the name of SpeedSuperSonic has gone and made an extremely lazy attempt to cash in on this article:

If you see this thumbnail show up in your feed, ignore it or report it for spreading misinformation, which is a violation of YouTube’s terms of service. From what I’ve been told, this individual is a lying, clickbaiting, slime ball that doesn’t have any concept of  “reading comprehension”. Nothing in this article is a leak, inside information, or anywhere close to being confirmed. The mere idea of Sonic Frontiers becoming a Playstation exclusive is fucking absurd and isn’t going to happen. Don’t give him any ad revenue or the time of day. This article remains unaltered otherwise.

 

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