Sonic Frontiers

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Sonic Frontiers.

Morio Kishimoto, who served as director for Sonic Colors, Sonic Lost World, and Sonic Forces, returned to the series to direct Sonic Frontiers.¹² Serving as producer would be Sachiko Kawamura, who served as art director for Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Generations and Forces.³⁴ Lastly, Ian Flynn, a contributing writer of various Sonic media, wrote the script.⁵⁶⁷

Reception for the game was mixed, but better received than Sonic Forces; the key open-world aspect was either seen as a refreshing take on the franchise or a blatant clone between other open-world games released throughout the 2010s overall. On the flipside, it did financially well, making it one of the fastest selling games in the franchise since Sonic Heroes, selling over 3 million in a few months.

Developmental Timeline#

2017

• Mid-Late 2017 - Development on Sonic Frontiers began in 2017 at Tokyo, with a team consisting of 60 people.⁸

2019

• Mar - Takashi Iizuka confirms that the studio had begun production on the next major Sonic the Hedgehog game at the end of the Sonic panel at SXSW 2019.⁹¹⁰¹¹
• Nov - A user on 4chan claims they did an online survey gauging consumer interest in several game concepts, including Super Mario Odyssey 2 (likely a dummy placed to compare the general interest of other titles). The most significant concept detailed a new, open-world Sonic game set on the Starfall Islands, along with several prototype names, including "Sonic Titans", "Sonic Starfall", and "Sonic Rising".¹²

2021

• Jan 6 - Another 4chan user claims to have participated in a focus test for the game, referring to it by its codename Sonic Rangers and describing the game up to the first boss fight. Some notable differences in their description include getting Chaos Emeralds by clearing the Cyberspace stages quickly enough and a "ghost girl" (presumably Amy, see Kishimoto's comments below) refilling Sonic's ring count during the boss fight.¹³
• May 27 - The then-unnamed Sonic Frontiers was first teased at the Sonic Central live stream. ¹⁴
• Dec 9 - During The Game Awards 2021, the first trailer of Sonic Frontiers debuts, along with its finalized name.¹⁵

2022

• Jun 1 - 3 - The first gameplay presentation of Sonic Frontiers is revealed at IGN, demonstrating the basic exploration and combat system. ¹⁶¹⁷
• Jun 7 - 2022's Sonic Central shows a sneak peak of Sonic Frontiers Prologue: Divergence, along with a teaser for the 'Squid' boss fight. ¹⁸
• Jun 28 - Sonic Frontiers is shown at the Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase with the first proper showing of the Green Hill and Highway Cyber Space stages, Kronos Island's titan, and a new character named Sage. ¹⁹
• Aug 23 - The Story Trailer debuts at Gamescom, showing a few instances of Ares Island.²⁰
• Sep - The game's first ending theme, "Vandalize",²¹ as well as the main theme of the game, "I'm Here", are released on the official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube channel. ²²
• Sep 15 - 18 - Sonic Frontiers won the award for "Most Anticipated Game of 2022".
• Oct 19 - "Cyber Space DJ Mix" is released on the official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube channel.²³
• Oct 22 - Director Morio Kishimoto announces that Sonic Frontiers has gone gold. ²⁴
• Nov 8 - Sonic Frontiers is released.

Development Cycle#

Sonic Frontiers was originally slated to launch in 2021 for Sonic's 30th anniversary, but for polish and quality assurance, it was delayed internally by a year.

4chan Leaks#

A number of 4chan leaks occurred from 2019 to 2021, made by various people. These weren't widely known about until SOAH City made an article documenting them all (which was subsequently deleted for unknown reasons, archive).

August 2018#

The earliest known mention of the game comes from August 2, 2018, where an anonymous person stated they had done a consumer test for a game called Sonic Titans or Sonic Colossus in July, with the objective to destroy "skyscraper sized" enemies.

November 2019#

On November 19, 2019, a 4chan thread was made by a person claiming to have participated in a survey gauging interest in several game concepts such as Super Mario Odyssey 2 (likely a dummy so as to compare the interest of similar titles); included within is Sonic Frontiers with several changes:

• Interestingly, the document already mentions four islands, in spite of this being made before the Kronos-Rhea-Ouranos split.
• Sonic is stated to be suffering from amnesia due to the Cyber Space corruption taking hold. Voice clips for this are still present in the final, but are unused.
• Working titles for the game include Sonic the Hedgehog: Rise of the Titans, Sonic Starfall, Sonic Freedom, Sonic Freerunner, Sonic Rising, Sonic Evolutions, Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis, and Sonic the Hedgehog: Titans Rise.

April 2020#

In a random Sonic thread, another user reveals they had playtested an upcoming game, before deleting the post revealing the gameplay, evidently being a very early version of Kronos Island with the following known differences from the final:

• No story elements were implemented at this point, the player simply dropped into the world.
• No Cyber Space stages were present, with the player instead just running around to find all seven Chaos Emeralds before taking on Giganto in a forest.
• "Undefeatable" had not been composed yet, so the game simply used Infinite's theme from Sonic Forces as a placeholder.

July 2020#

In a reply to other users on a separate thread, two playtesters corroborated the April 2020 leak's statement of there being no proper stages. They also revealed the name of the game to be Sonic Rangers.

August 2020#

In another thread, one playtester reveals more details of the game whose details match up with the April 2020 leak, including Giganto using Infinite's theme rather than "Undefeatable," as well as new details:

• Chaos Emeralds are earned by defeating the Guardians throughout the island.
• Rather than climbing a waterfall, the player would've gone through a thick fog before fighting Giganto. This lines up with internal footage below, in which Gignato's arena has a thick fog effect that is completely missing from the final game.

January 2021#

Another 4chan thread was made on January 6, 2021, made by one of the participants in a new focus test for the game. By this point, Cyber Space has been implemented, but there are still many key differences:

• The Cyloop ability was known as the "Spincycle."
• It seems as if the Gears lacked any distinctive look at this point, as the poster simply mentions that collecting enough orbs would allow the player to enter Cyber Space.
• Chaos Emeralds were apparently locked in the Cyber Space stages behind completion times.
• Giganto is still surrounded by thick fog.
• A "ghost girl" would've been around Super Sonic during the Giganto boss fight giving him rings, likely Amy (see Kishimoto's comments).
• Only Sonic's voice acting was recorded at this point.

SoJ's Internal Meeting#

An internal meeting at Sega of Japan was held in 2021, featuring a reel showcasing the then-unnamed Jet Set Radio remake, the then-announced Persona 3 Reload, and an early build of ''Sonic Frontiers. The video was leaked online April 2023. This build contains many differences from the final:²⁵

• Kronos Island was in its pre-split form (including Rhea and Ouranos Island), and was a lot bigger compared to the early height map in the Switch and PS4 releases of the final game. A seemingly floating structure can be seen that is present nowhere in any other build of the game.
• While Giganto is largely identical to his design and boss fight in the final game, there are a few differences:
  • The boss arena is in a completely different place compared to the final game, being in a forested area on what becomes Ouranos Island; in the final game, Supreme takes Giganto's place as the boss in that area, while Giganto is moved to the crater in Kronos Island. The area is surrounded by fog with a different skybox, neither of which are seen in the final game.
  • Giganto's roar sounds completely different from the one in the final game.
  • When Giganto lands after a jump, the camera shakes, which is not present in the final game.
  • A different, more dynamic camera angle is used when Giganto tries to eat Super Sonic.
  • Giganto's pillars are raised, but there are no lasers firing.
• Caterpillar is seen in what would become Rhea Island, sporting a black color scheme and firing an unused attack. In the final game, Caterpillar would only appear in Ouranos Island; the black palette and unused attack would be used in The Final Horizon.* The music heard in the reel is not played in the final game, although it may be an unused instrumental of "Break Through It All", the Wyvern boss theme.
• The game's visual effects were more impressive than in the final; this is evident with Super Sonic, as his transformation cutscene and aura are more vibrant and detailed.
• We see a brief snippet of the CG cutscene that would play in full during the game's reveal during the 2021 Game Awards.

2021#

May#

30th Anniversary Teaser#

Watch on YouTubeOn May 25, 2021, a promotional video celebrating the 30th anniversary of the franchise gives us the first official tease of the new Sonic game, showing a few seconds of the teaser trailer that would debut two days later.

Sonic Central 2021#

Watch on YouTubeSega reveals the first teaser of Sonic Team's new mainline Sonic title at the end of the Sonic Central presentation on May 27, 2021. The CG teaser features Sonic running through a lush, green forest before boosting with a strange looking energy, which would later be identified as the Cyloop. The loop that Sonic creates forms into an alien symbol written in stone.

Sonic Rangers#

After the release of the teaser, Sega's press site made mention of a game titled Sonic Rangers, which was reported by TheGamer and Polygon, before the articles were all edited to remove reference to it²⁶. The metadata of the teaser also makes reference to the "Rangers" name. The files in the final game reveal that "Rangers" was indeed the working title for the game.

October#

According to a Facebook post on October 11, a survey sponsored by Sonic Team asks participants of what they think of a game titled Sonic Frontiers.²⁷

November#

A trademark for Sonic Frontiers was discovered on November 8, though the name was itself trademarked October 21.²⁸

December#

The Game Awards 2021#

Watch on YouTubeOn December 9, 2021, during the 2021 Game Awards show, Sega debuted the first official trailer of the game, as well as its official title, Sonic Frontiers. The trailer gave scenic shots of what would come to be known as Kronos Island, Rhea Island, and Ouranos Island, with a handful of major differences:

• The build presented in the trailer has no objects, such as Rings, enemies, or the floating platforms and rails that line the map in the final game. This includes objects created for puzzles. The terrain of the world, however, is largely identical to the final build.
• The build is before Ouranos Island was split from Kronos / Rhea Island in the final game, as one can see the pyramid found on Ouranos Island while Sonic is overlooking Kronos Island.
• Giganto, the titan that nearly squashes Sonic in the trailer, is much larger than he is in the final game. He has a more purple-ish hue than in the final game. Finally, the area they are in has a tower and is more forested than the empty plain of their first encounter or the water-logged marsh that the proper boss battle takes place in. This is more consistent with the earlier version of the game, where Giganto is fought in the area that Supreme is fought in the final game, as well as with leaks that claimed that the titan is fought in a forested area.
• An early version of the logo is presented, using plain trailer text for the font.

Polygon Leak#

On December 9, shortly after the release of the Game Awards trailer, Polygon released a synopsis of Frontiers that made mention of Dr. Eggman discovering the Starfall Islands and uploading his AI program Sage. The article was quickly edited to remove the synopsis.²⁹³⁰

2022#

June#

IGN First#

IGN had the exclusive privilege of demonstrating the first proper gameplay footage of Frontiers with two videos: one released on June 1, 2022, showing off basic exploration and puzzles on Kronos Island, and the other released two days later, demonstrating the combat. This build, which was later clarified to be an earlier build recorded internally at Sega and not the build that Michael Staltzmann of IGN had played in private, is notable for being after Kronos Island was split apart, as Ouranos Island is nowhere to be found.

The build is close to the final build, with major key differences as shown below.

Exploration Video

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Does the object layout match the early joined island from the Switch files?

Watch on YouTube

• No HUD is present, including the notifications for button presses or moving the control stick, with the exception of the puzzle and treasure indicators.
• While the pop-in in the build is roughly the same as the final game, what is unique is that most if not every objects have a unique effect when they are loaded in, an effect saved only for a handful of objects in the final game (specifically, objects that are properly revealed through the completion of a puzzle).
• Neither the Squid guardian nor the springs that launch Sonic up to the floating diamond structure are present on the mirror web area.
• The falling animation is different from the one used in the final. Sonic assumes a more static pose with only his quills moving up and down, similarly to previous titles.
• The speed lines coming off of Sonic when he boosts are a lot less common, only appearing occasionally.

Combat Video

Watch on YouTube

• Sonic's basic attacks lack the golden sparks.
• Sonic is able to perform the Cyclone Kick, a skill that is only available after freeing Knuckles in Ares Island in the final game, despite Kronos Island not being completed (as seen by how the Chaos Emeralds are still within their vaults).
• The panel puzzle near Portal 1-4 has yet to be implemented, as neither the panels nor the puzzle indicator are present.
• The Sonic Boom move seems to have a finite distance, as it ends in an impact particle.
• The basic punch attack uses the Homing Attack sound effect if used after a Homing Attack hits.
• The NIS when Sonic walks in range of a miniboss is present, but the UI element displaying its name (in the one case shown in the video, "ASURA") is absent.

2026#

September#

Tokyo Game Show 2026#

Watch on YouTubeAs part of the 35th Anniversary livestream at the Tokyo Game Show 2026, Sonic Team showcased footage of a prototype build of the game.

This build is consistent with some of the earliest known 4chan leaks, as well as comments from Takashi Iizuka and Morio Kishimoto about development starting with a larger and more traditionally designed open world. This build apparently predates any known version of the game, including the internal Sega of Japan footage, the beta version of Kronos Island seen in the Game Awards trailer, and the unused maps found in the final game; it depicts a radically different game with no standard enemies, Guardians, Cyberspace portals, and a titan whose design resembles the one seen in concept art.

• This build contains no objects in the world, including Rings, collectible tokens, or platforms.
• Sonic is completely silent, and an original but unused music track closer in style to the music for the Guardian boss battles plays while he scales Giganto.
• No HUD is present; however, an early version of the Homing Attack reticle can be seen when Sonic scales Giganto.
• The default camera is far closer to Sonic and to the ground, functioning similarly to the camera used in previous boost titles.
• Sonic's running animation is nearly identical to Forces', only with his fists clenched at top speed. Note that Sonic never boosts in the footage.
• The design for the prototype Kronos Island is radically different from any known version afterward. The terrain is entirely different, much flatter, and has mountains with steeper cliffs. There are two towers with a more mechanical design than the ones in the final game. Instead of climbing the tower or platforming on its rings, Sonic would instead take an elevator up, giving him full view of the island. Sonic emerges from a cave similar to the starting point in the final game's tutorial area, though the chasm is more narrow and immediately leads to the full game map.
• On the island is a strange red structure, which seems to be an early version of the Cyber Cages Sonic's friends are trapped in.
• Sonic is not able to run up climbable surfaces, and his climbing animation is far slower and slightly different than the final. Not seen in the final game is the ability to Homing Attack up a climbable surface; this ability seems to be similar to the Focused Homing Attack from Lost World, as Sonic is able to Homing Attack multiple targets in rapid succession. Also like in Lost World, the attack leaves a trail behind Sonic. Unlike the final game, there is a very brief animation of Sonic winding up his Homing Attack. There is also significantly less hit stun and slow down when hitting a target.
• Instead of interacting with a machine on the top of the titan, Sonic would instead have to Homing Attack Giganto, specifically a glowing red orb; after enough times, an unused cutscene would play of Sonic pulling the blue Chaos Emerald out of the titan. The Chaos Emerald is larger and more opaque than in the final game.
• After retrieving the Chaos Emerald, Giganto disintegrates. Sonic does not transform into Super Sonic; it seems that Sonic would have had to get the Chaos Emeralds from the titans instead of completing missions or finding them on the map. There are multiple titans of varying size on the map.
• Giganto's design is different from the final game and is identical to his concept art, featuring a more insectoid design with multiple red eyes on the face instead of a rictus grin. While the Giganto Sonic defeats in the footage is closer in size to the one in the final, there is another Giganto closer to Asura's size on the map, as seen when Sonic is atop the tower.

Kishimoto's Comments#

Director Morio Kishomoto became very active on Twitter following the release of the game and has revealed some insight into the game's development.

• Sonic was originally intended to be able to drift anywhere in the open-zone, but this functionality was removed because he wasn't satisfied with it. Cyber Space 3-5 is a leftover of this mechanic. You can technically still do this in the final game, but only as Super Sonic, and you need to also be boosting. ³¹
• Giganto took four years to fully develop. ³²
• The plot of the game was inspired by a Japanese folktale called Rabbit in the Moon. ³³
• There was a segment planned where you explored an abandoned factory that mass-produced copies of Giganto. This can be seen in concept art for Chaos Island. ³⁴
• The Drop Dash was originally an unlockable skill, before being moved to Sonic's base moveset. ³⁵
• The Cyloop was inspired by a 1981 arcade game called Qix, where you drew rectangles to claim territory. ³⁶
• All of the Titan bosses used to have rings, instead of just Wyvern in the final.
• The dev team discovered the "Homing Dash" bug during development, but chose not to fix it, instead leaving it for players to discover. ³⁷
• Concept art feature unimplemented variants of Soldier, Tower, Eagle, and other enemies. These were in the game at one point but were removed due to file size concerns. Kishimoto believes this was ultimately the right choice, as it provided more time to create new content. ³⁸

Additionally, he appeared on a Supersonic Gamers livestream in early December 2022 and revealed more information:

• Ninja was apparently too strong at first, to the point where only a few team members were able to defeat it.
• Kishimoto had the idea of giant Super Sonic enemies as far back as Sonic Lost World's development in 2013.
• Amy originally appeared during the fight with Giganto, and would replenish the player's Rings while Giganto fires lasers. This was removed because it was a pacebreaker. This corroborates with a leak of Sonic Frontiers prior to the game's initial announcement, which cited a "ghost girl" that refilled your ring count.
• During the fight with Wyvern, Sonic ran directly on Wyvern's body, instead of the red path in the final game.
• The scene of Sonic slicing Knight in half was inspired by Goemon Ishikawa from Lupin the 3rd.
• The fight with Knight was completely different. Knight would speed around the entire island using its wheels, with Sonic giving chase. This idea was scrapped as it felt too similar to previous Super Sonic fights.
• The Tank Guardian was inspired by a similar gimmick in Asteroid Coaster from Sonic Colors.
• The End is perceived differently by everyone who views it. The player sees The End as a moon because it is a common symbol of death.
• Sonic Team did not have much time to create the endgame, which is likely why everything past Rhea Island is pseudo-reused content.

References#