With the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Sega and the blue blur wanted to end the year off with a bang. One of these big announcements was a trailer for the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie, with big reveals about the plot and characters. These include the introduction of the Chaos Emeralds, as well as veteran Sonic characters "Tails" Miles Prower and Knuckles the Echidna. Alongside this trailer was the formal unveiling of a brand-new Sonic the Hedgehog game, Sonic Frontiers.
Sonic Frontiers was revealed at The Game Awards, with a trailer giving fans a taste of what to expect. This includes an overview of the game's open-world setting, taking place on a brand-new location known as Starfall Islands. The rumors and leaks of Sonic Frontiers had mentioned that it would be the blue blur's take on games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and it seems those rumors were true. If that wasn't enough to get fans excited, long-time Sonic the Hedgehog comics writer, Ian Flynn, will also be handling Sonic Frontiers' narrative.
Ian Flynn has been a part of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise since 2006, making his writing debut with the 160th issue of the Sonic Archie comics. Ever since then, he's been the chief writer of the comics for the past 15 years, even continuing into the current Sonic IDW Comics after the Archie run was canceled.
Fans were teased abou Flynn's involvement shortly before The Game Awards revealed Sonic Frontiers, but recent tweets confirm that he'll have a hand in writing the game's narrative. He however didn't go into the specifics of what he has written for Frontiers, noting he is under an NDA with Sega. Despite that, however, many long-time Sonic fans were excited to hear that Flynn will be one of the game's writers, considering his past and current Sonic stories.
Fans expressed their well wishes and thanks to Flynn when the announcement went public. Many fans are aware that Flynn is a big long-time fan of the blue blur, so getting the chance to not only work on the story of the comics but now Sonic Frontiers is a big honor. While some fans are a little bit cautious going into this game since not much about the gameplay has been shown yet, others are hyped to see a writer who has been a big part of the franchise take the narrative reins.
Sonic Frontiers will be launching Holiday 2022 on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.