Video game publisher Sega has released a sales update that includes cumulative unit data on its most popular franchises. The chart most notably claimed that Sonic the Hedgehog has reached over 1.5 billion units and downloads.
Sonic the Hedgehog debuted the character and IP in June 1991, where it quickly exploded into Sega’s most popular title. After reaching the peak of its popularity in the 1990s and diminishing into the early 2000s, the Sonic franchise was rebooted during the rise of mobile gaming. Sonic Dash, Sonic Runners, and various other titles saw immense success on mobile platforms.
The most popular of Sonic’s mobile titles, Sonic Runners, reportedly saw over 500 million downloads as of 2021 alone, being one of the franchise’s best individual performances. Sonic Forces: Speed Battle, another mobile game released in 2017, passed over 94 million in 2022, boasting a similar free-to-play microtransaction model.
The Sonic franchise has undoubtedly seen many different twists and turns throughout its storied history. Since 1991, over 90 different titles under the Sonic name have been produced, resulting in 1.5 billion total sales and downloads, according to Sega.
This number notably includes all sequels and free-to-play versions of original Sonic titles, as well as free-to-play mobile downloads. It is unclear, however, if Google counts re-downloads as separate downloads or if it is based on account. Nevertheless, Sega’s reported milestone shocked past and present Sonic fans.
Sonic’s next installment will come in the form of Sonic Frontiers, which is set to release on Nov. 8 across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Switch, and PC.
