Sonic Boom has the distinct honour of becoming the worst selling major Sonic title in history, after figures revealed by SEGA in the company’s latest holdings report.
Both versions of the game, Rise of Lyric (Wii U) and Shattered Crystal (3DS) have managed to shift 490,000 copies in total – however, there’s no confirmation this is actual copies sold or simply shipped.
This news comes following the announcement of the loss of 300 jobs at SEGA, closure of their San Francisco office, and shifting their focus to digital titles. Stephen Frost, producer of Sonic Boom, has been confirmed as part of these losses.
To compare, Sonic Lost World, the previous Wii U/3DS exclusive Sonic title under the Nintendo deal, managed to sell 640,000 copies by December 2013. It went on to have 710,000 copies sold by March 2014.
It’s not all bleak though – another big title from SEGA last year, Alien: Isolation from developer Creative Assembly, managed to shift 1,760,000 copies. SEGA have also said the Sonic franchise will be “reinforced” to generate stable profits for the company.
Sonic Boom was announced in February last year, envisioning itself as a spin off from the mainline Sonic franchise. Developed by Big Red Button on Wii U and Sanzaru Games on 3DS, it was also launched alongside a TV show which airs on Cartoon Network. SEGA called it “one of the biggest license initiatives SEGA has undertaken in recent years”.