Sega just revealed that Sonic Superstars underperformed on the market due to a "competing title in the same genre," hinting at Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Read on to learn more about Sega’s performance evaluation of Sonic Superstars.
Sonic Superstars Couldn’t Compete with Other "Titles in the Same Genre"
Sega just released an English version of the Q&A session they held earlier this month, revealing the reason for Sonic Superstars’ underperformance in the market upon release. Sega stated that the game sold fewer copies than they initially forecasted, prompting interviewers to ask Sega Sammy Holdings executive vice president Makoto Takahashi and IR/SR department director Nobuaki Yoshii how they evaluated the game’s market performance.
"Although Sonic Superstars has generally been well received by those who have played it, the timing of the launch coincided with competing titles in the same genre, and it has been short of the initial forecast,"they replied. "The strategic expansion of Sonic IP is progressing well, and we will continue to work to increase repeat sales of this title."
"Competing titles in the same genre" is an ambiguous term, though it pretty much spells out Sonic Superstars’ main competitor to be Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Although they didn’t refer to the Nintendo title by name, Super Mario Bros. Wonder was released three days after Sonic Superstars and is easily the biggest title among other games released in the same timeframe.
Other platforming titles that were released around the same time as Sonic Superstars and Super Mario Bros. Wonder include SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake and DreamWorks Trolls Remix Rescue.
Sonic Superstars’ Sales May Continue to Lower
The Q&A session followed Sega’s November 2023 financial results briefing, where Sega Sammy Holdings president and group CEO Haruki Satomi stated that the company’s October sales were lower than anticipated. Sega didn’t single out Nintendo or the Mario franchise as the reason at that time, however, citing the sheer number of titles released in that time period as the main factor in the decline of sales.
"We believe that the impact of other companies’ major title[s] released at the same time is significant, but we plan to expand the promotion towards the holiday season, especially in the overseas market,” Satomi said. He added that Sonic games sell best during the months of November and December anyway.
It would appear that the better sales they were banking on did not come to pass, hence the company’s latest update regarding Sonic Superstar’s forecasted decline.
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Sega implies Super Mario Wonder was responsible for Sonic Superstars selling less than expected
