Sonic Superstars is developed by original designer’s studio, Sega confirms
Sega’s new Sonic game is developed by Arzest, the Japanese studio run by the mascot’s original creator Naoto Ohshima, it’s told VGC.
Ohshima, who is credited as designing Sonic and providing art for the franchise’s earliest games, will be returning for his first series entry in over 20 years with Sonic Superstars.
Sonic Team boss Takashi Iizuka said in an interview at Summer Game Fest on Saturday that the company had originally intended to collaborate again with developer Christian Whitehead, who directed 2017’s Sonic Mania, but plans fell through.
Iizuka then approached Ohshima, who worked on the original Sonic the Hedgehog and other entries in the 90s, to lead the next 2D game with his development team, which is best known for developing titles such as Hey! Pikmin and Yoshi’s New Island.
Sonic Mania developers Headcannon and Christian Whitehead are not involved, Iizuka confirmed.
“When we were making Sonic Mania and the game was finished and Chris was done, we had a conversation with Chris and the team about what the next 2D game we make should be,” he explained.
“We had some concepts and ideas laid out between the teams but we couldn’t kick off the project. And so it disappeared for a while with Chris and the team.
“I’m friends with a lot of my old coworkers and I was having a conversation with Ohshima-san about how we should make a Sonic game together and if he’d be interested. He’s the original creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, and so we had a conversation about whether his company Arzest would be interested in working on a Sonic game
“So there were ideas with Chris and the team that fell through. Sonic Superstars is really all developed by Arzest, but Sonic Team in Japan is working with them on design and some other elements.
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