SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog series has sold an impressive 1.5 billion copies worldwide

In SEGA’s latest financial report, the company shared a pretty remarkable figure for its Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.

According to the company, the series has sold over 1.5 billion copies worldwide. The figure covers both full games and free titles as of March 2022 (thanks, GI.biz).

The number is sure to rise once Sonic Frontiers is released, and the company is also working on several Sonic IP projects for the fiscal year ending March 2024 and beyond. The company feels that these new projects will “increase the popularity of the franchise and help sell more games.”

Sonic isn’t the only franchise doing well for SEGA. The financial report also noted that the Total War series has sold more than 40.4 million units since 2000.

It was also noted that since its debut in 1996, the Persona series has sold over 15.5 million units, and the Persona 5 series has sold 7.22 million copies, 77% of which were sold internationally.

SEGA also revealed that its Football Manager and Chain Chronicle franchises have moved 25 million units each.

The financial report also included comments from the company’s president and CEO, Haruki Satomi, who said that SEGA is working on creating a “Super Game”, noting that it is always on the lookout for “new forms of entertainment with a view to to the future… to the past.”

“One strategy to generate such successful titles is to create a Super Game, a large-scale global title,” Satomi said. “We are currently developing such a game, with the goal of releasing it for the fiscal year ending March 2026.

“The ultimate goal of the Super Game strategy is to create a game so revolutionary that it attracts far more active users than any of the Group’s games to date. A key to achieving this goal is if we can bring together a large community, involving not not only the players, but also the streamers who broadcast the game and the viewers who watch their videos. That kind of community expands and further develops the content of the game, adds value to the game that the developers did not imagine, and generates a broader movement , which can then attract even more users and increase the game’s presence dramatically.

“If we can trigger this kind of virtuous cycle, I think reaching the lifetime sales goal for the ‘Supergame’ of 100 billion yen is completely achievable. More than anything, the starting point for building that kind of community is to create an interesting game that wins the support of users.

“Truly interesting games attract a lot of people, and a variety of communities naturally spring up around them.

“We hope to create an attractive game that meets the demands of future users.”