Sonic The Hedgehog 35th anniversary interview – the persistence of an icon

For the 35th anniversary of Sonic The Hedgehog, we quizzed series producer Takashi Iizuka and brand officer Ivo Gerscovich about how the franchise has lasted so long and why it’ll never stop.

There’s no denying that the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise has, to put it charitably, stumbled many times throughout its history. Some of those mishaps would’ve killed most other franchises and yet something about the cocky blue mammal has kept fans coming back again and again for 35 years.

To Sega and Sonic Team’s credit, the franchise has made a successful comeback for the 2020s. There’s a greater sense of enthusiasm and optimism amongst longtime fans than there was in the 2010s, thanks to the live action movies (which have been bigger critical successes than the animated Mario movies), other media projects like the IDW comics and, most importantly, a consistently solid string of video games, starting with 2022’s Sonic Frontiers.

As such, Sonic’s 35th birthday has felt like an event genuinely worth celebrating and though there’s still no sign of the next mainline game (at time of writing), Sega has been doing a lot to mark the occasion.

Sega recently announced a second year of DLC for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds (which includes a Godzilla cameo), a new concert tour that starts this September, released a six-part audio drama, and… made a big statue with Sonic’s DNA inside it.

Just recently, Sega commissioned multiple art murals that you can find in Shoreditch, London, and fans are encouraged to take part in a Sonic Speed Circuit run club that’ll have you run a 10km circuit through the London streets in the shape of Sonic himself.

We were also invited to interview series producer and Sonic creative officer Takashi Iizuka and chief business and brand officer for Sega Brands Ivo Gerscovich over email, where we asked them about Sonic’s longevity and what they’ve learned from working on the franchise.

Sonic creative officer Takashi Iizuka

GC: What is it about Sonic The Hedgehog that has allowed both the franchise and the character to persist for the past 35 years?

TI: From the very beginning, Sonic represented something genuinely aspirational, embodying freedom, confidence, and the idea that you don’t have to slow down for anyone. That core identity has resonated across generations because those feelings are timeless, and kids today respond to Sonic the same way kids did in 1991.

Beyond the character himself, the world and cast we’ve built around him gives fans so many different entry points into the franchise, and we’ve always worked hard to balance honouring that legacy while continuing to push things forward.

Longtime fans are the foundation of everything we do, but we also believe Sonic should feel alive and relevant to new audiences. A big part of our focus has always been ensuring that anyone picking up a Sonic title for the first time can immediately feel the energy and fun, without feeling like they missed decades of history.

GC: As someone who’s been involved with the franchise since 1994, what lessons have you learned regarding game development over the years?

TI: The biggest lesson I’ve taken away from three decades in this industry is that technology changes constantly, but great game development has always been and will always be about creating experiences that genuinely resonate with players.

GC: Do you look to any other games for inspiration when it comes to designing new Sonic games? If so, which ones and why?

TI: I think any creative who tells you they work in a vacuum isn’t being fully honest. We are constantly looking at what’s happening across the industry, not to copy or chase trends, but to understand what’s connecting with players and why.

We look at film, animation, music, and broader cultural moments because Sonic has always existed at the intersection of gaming and pop culture. The key for us is always filtering that inspiration through the lens of what makes Sonic uniquely Sonic.

GC: Between the games, the IDW comics, and The Chaotix Casefiles audio drama, there’s been a stronger focus on storytelling and character writing within the franchise in recent years, compared to the more simplistic stories of the 2010s. What was the reasoning behind this shift?

TI: Honestly, it came from listening. Our fanbase has always been deeply passionate about the characters and the world we’ve built over the past 35 years, and for a stretch of time, I think we underestimated just how much story and character depth meant to them.

The simpler approach of the 2010s served a purpose in keeping things accessible and light, but we consistently heard from fans that they wanted more. They wanted to understand who these characters really are, what drives them, what their relationships mean to each other, and how they fit into this larger world we’ve spent decades building together.

Characters like Vector, Espio, and Charmy are a perfect example of that. The Chaotix have an incredibly loyal following, but for years, fans felt like they weren’t getting nearly enough time with them. The Chaotix Casefiles audio drama was born of that recognition, and the response has been a reminder of what’s possible when you give these characters room to breathe and develop properly.

The IDW comics have done something similar by expanding the universe in ways that complement the games without being constrained by them.

What we’ve come to believe is that richer storytelling and broad accessibility are not mutually exclusive. You can welcome new fans while also rewarding the people who have invested in this world for decades and finding that balance is something our creative teams are genuinely energised by right now. There are so many stories left to tell, and we feel like we’re only just beginning to scratch the surface of what this universe is capable of.

GC: Are you concerned that the franchise’s stronger emphasis on continuity and calling back to older games risks alienating newer fans?

TI: That’s something we think about carefully. Continuity and accessibility are not opposing forces if you approach them thoughtfully. Our goal has always been to ensure that every game, comic issue, or piece of content we put out can stand on its own and deliver a satisfying experience for someone who has never engaged with Sonic before.

The callbacks and deeper lore are there to reward the fans who have been with us for years, and those layers of meaning add something genuinely special for that audience. But they should never function as a barrier or make a new fan feel like they walked into the middle of a conversation they weren’t invited to.

Striking that balance is something our creative teams are intentional about at every stage of development, and if we maintain that discipline, we believe we can serve both audiences without short-changing either.

GC: The extended cast has been getting a lot more focus nowadays. We’ve seen them get to take the lead in comic books and the Chaotix Casefiles audio drama, but are there any considerations for them to get their own spin-off games? Also do you have a favourite member of the Sonic cast?

TI: Spin-off games are absolutely on the table, and the success of the comics and Chaotix Casefiles has only made that conversation more exciting internally. We have such a deep roster of characters with real creative potential, and we pay close attention to how fans respond to everything we put out. That feedback directly shapes where we take the franchise next, so I’d never count anything out.

As for a personal favorite, I have to go with Shadow, and I’ll admit there’s some bias there since I created him. When we introduced Shadow in Sonic Adventure 2, we wanted a character who would challenge everything players thought they knew about this universe, and the response blew us away.

Watching that connection between Shadow and the fanbase grow over the past 25 years has honestly been one of the most rewarding parts of this whole journey.

GC: Given the success and popularity of the movies, were there ever any discussions about overhauling the games so they would more greatly resemble the movies in terms of the characters and setting? Has there even been any consideration for a video game directly based on the movies?

TI: Over the years, Sonic has expanded into various media formats, including movies, anime, and comics. However, our unwavering belief has always been that ‘the game is the core.’ Just as the live-action Sonic movie depicts his adventures on Earth, adaptations across different media require adjustments to succeed.

These adaptations are only possible because there is a solid foundation and if that foundation were to change, the essence of Sonic would become unclear. Therefore, no matter how successful a spin-off series may be, we will never alter that core. However, we do intend to continue pursuing projects such as Sonic X Shadow Generations [Note: which launched to coincide with and promote the Sonic The Hedgehog 3 movie] and in-game movie collaborations for mobile titles.

GC: Sonic Team is obviously the primary developer of the games, but other studios have contributed to the series, such as Arzest on Sonic Superstars and Gamefam on Sonic Speed Simulator. How open are you to allowing other studios to lead development on new games?

TI: Arzest and Gamefam are game development companies with a deep knowledge of and strong passion for Sonic. Working with them has been a great source of inspiration for me. We also plan to release a collaborative title called Sonic Pico Park with indie game studio Tecopark later this year.

Sonic Pico Park is a multiplayer game with a gameplay style unlike any previous Sonic title, and I’m confident that fans will love it. Moving forward, I hope to continue exploring opportunities to create titles that showcase the unique strengths of other game development companies.

GC: There have been a lot of Sonic fan games, as well as indie games directly inspired by the series, like Freedom Planet and Spark The Electric Jester. How does it feel to see people use the Sonic games as a basis for their own projects?

TI: It’s genuinely one of the most rewarding things to witness. When you see developers pour their passion into fan games or build entirely original projects inspired by what we’ve created, it tells you something profound about the impact this franchise has had.

GC: The franchise recently wrapped up its first audio drama/podcast, The Chaotix Casefiles. What was the inspiration behind the project and are there any plans for further Sonic audio dramas?

TI: The Chaotix Casefiles really came from a desire to give fans something they had been asking for in a format we had never explored before. Vector, Espio, and Charmy have always had an incredibly devoted following, but opportunities to spend real quality time with those characters have been limited.

An audio drama felt like the perfect vehicle for that because it allowed us to lean fully into character, dialogue, and storytelling in a way that a game naturally can’t prioritize to the same degree. It was also an exciting opportunity to reach audiences who might engage with Sonic content differently, whether that’s commuters, podcast listeners, or fans who simply love serialized audio storytelling.

GC: A lot of fans keep asking you for a new Sonic Adventure game. What is it about that game in particular that you think has resonated with fans to such a degree where they’re still asking for a follow-up?

TI: Sonic Adventure holds a really special place in the history of this franchise, and honestly, in the history of gaming more broadly. When we released that game in 1998, we were asking players to make an enormous leap with us from the world they knew into something completely new.

Transitioning Sonic into three dimensions was one of the most ambitious and frankly nerve-wracking things we had ever attempted, because the speed and feel that defined the franchise in 2D was not something you could transpose into a new dimension without completely rethinking how the game worked. The fact that it landed the way it did is something I’m incredibly proud of.

What I think continues to resonate with fans is that Sonic Adventure didn’t just change the dimension; it expanded the world in every sense. It gave players a living, breathing environment to explore; it deepened the characters and their relationships in ways the series hadn’t before; and it delivered a sense of scale and adventure that felt genuinely cinematic for its time.

Sonic Adventure 2 built on that further and gave fans some of the most memorable moments in the franchise’s history, including the introduction of Shadow, which obviously holds a personal significance for me.

GC: Video game remakes are especially popular nowadays and while the series has seen some remasters and re-releases, there have yet to be any full remakes. You did say in an interview last year that you’d rather prioritise entirely new games over a Sonic Adventure remake, so is there no temptation to follow suit and remake some of the older games?

TI: Of course, the Sonic Adventure series is my favourite, but precisely because of that, there are countless aspects I’d love to rework. Sometimes I find myself daydreaming about rebuilding that world with today’s technology.

However, since it’s an older game, reviving it as a modern title would require enormous resources and time. Doing so would mean that we wouldn’t be able to deliver new titles born from innovative ideas for a long time. We’ve been taking on new challenges for the past 35 years, and I believe we shouldn’t stop now.

GC: Can we get a hint of what to expect from the next Sonic game?

TI: This year, we announced additional DLC for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, and a new multiplayer indie game called Sonic Pico Park. While we can’t reveal any information about future titles just yet, rest assured that our development team is always working on the next project. Stay tuned!

Chief business and brand Officer for Sega Brands Ivo Gerscovich

GC: Can you explain what exactly your role entails, for those unfamiliar with your position?

IG: At its core, my role is about ensuring that Sonic, Persona, and our broader portfolio of Sega brands are being represented, positioned, and grown in the right way across every market and platform in the West.

That covers an enormous amount of ground on any given day, from overseeing brand strategy and ensuring consistency across games, film, television, audio, and consumer products, to managing licensing and merchandising partnerships across our entire IP portfolio.

Whether we’re talking about a new Sonic title, a Persona collaboration, or an Angry Birds consumer products deal, my job is to make sure every touchpoint feels cohesive, authentic, and worthy of the brand it represents.

On the business side, I’m focused on identifying and developing new ways to engage with fans that they will love and find value in. Sega has an incredibly diverse and valuable portfolio of IP, and a significant part of my role is making sure we’re maximizing the potential of each brand while keeping long term cultural relevance at the centre of every decision we make.

Ultimately my responsibility is to ensure that the brands under my watch are in a stronger and more culturally significant position in the years ahead than they are today, and every strategic conversation I’m part of is filtered through that lens.

GC: How familiar were you with the Sonic franchise before joining Sega in 2015? Do you have a personal favourite Sonic game and/or character?

IG: Honestly, when I joined Sega in 2015, I knew about Sonic and had played a few of the games, and not very well. I had a general awareness of the franchise in the way that most people my generation do, Sonic was such a culturally pervasive figure that you couldn’t really grow up without knowing who he was, but I wouldn’t have claimed any expert knowledge of the lore, the characters, or the history of the games at that point.

From the outside, I really loved the rebellious DNA of what Sonic and Sega brands represented. What I did understand almost immediately was the scale and value of what I was being entrusted to help steward, and that drove me to invest seriously in building that knowledge over time while ensuring we brought in the very best experts in their fields.

Over ten years in, we’re in a very different place. Immersing yourself in a brand at this level for this long means you absorb a great deal, and I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work alongside people who are genuinely passionate and encyclopaedic about this franchise.

We also made the deliberate decision to onboard a dedicated lore team specifically for Sonic, because at the scale this franchise operates across games, comics, audio, film, and consumer products, having people whose sole focus is maintaining consistency, tying content together in meaningful ways and depth of knowledge across all of that is absolutely essential.

One of the early highlights of my time here has genuinely been witnessing the success of Sonic Mania. Seeing how deeply that game resonated with fans and the broader gaming community was a real testament to the enduring power of this franchise and showed us just how much momentum we could initiate in the early years.

As for a favourite character, it has to be Sonic himself. There’s a reason he’s endured for 35 years, and the more time you spend with this brand, the more you appreciate just how special he is. From his design, speed, attitude, loyalty, and confidence, he’s both aspirational and inspirational for tens of millions of fans around the world.

GC: What sort of challenges have you had to face in your line of work and how have you overcome them?

IG: One of the most consistent challenges in this role is managing the tension between long term brand strategy and the need to move quickly in a market that never slows down.

Fan expectations, cultural moments, and the competitive landscape can shift rapidly, and when you’re responsible for brands as visible and beloved as the ones in our portfolio, the pressure to respond in real time while never losing sight of the bigger picture is something you navigate carefully every single day.

Early in my tenure, getting up to speed on the depth and complexity of franchises like Sonic was itself a significant challenge, and building the right team around me, was critical in allowing us to make more confident and informed decisions.

What I’ve found to be the most effective tools throughout all of this are communication, transparency, and a relentless focus on shared objectives. When every team across games, licensing, marketing, and creative is genuinely aligned around the same vision, you’re in a much stronger position to move with both speed and confidence, and ultimately that alignment is what allows us to consistently deliver for our fans and our partners.

The other challenge has been that as the audience has grown exponentially, we now have many different types of fans so we work hard to serve all of these fans to ensure that there is ‘something for everyone.’