Sega’s Sonic Team On Memes: “We Like That People Are Having Fun”
It’s not every day a video game company embraces memes with open arms, but that’s exactly what’s going on at Sega when it comes to the Sonic the Hedgehog series – in fact, it’s arguably helped revitalize the brand over the years.
Ahead of the release of Sonic X Shadow Generations and the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie later this year, Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka recently touched on all the Shadow and Sonic-related memes during a chat with Polygon. First of all – yes, the team sees fans posting “lots of interesting stuff”.
As for his thoughts, he thinks these memes can be a “positive thing” because it illustrates just how invested fans are in the “brand and the character”. Sega also loves to just observe “what’s happening” and enjoys when “people are having fun” and engaging with the blue blur and his pals like this. He’s even seen the Knuckles and Amy memes:
“I don’t know how many years ago… there were a lot of Knuckles memes going on, out of nowhere… and there were a lot of Amy memes as well. Objectively, we’re just kind of watching what’s happening, and we like that people are having fun and engaging with our characters.”
It’s not just memes Sega is open to, it’s also not quite as strict as some other video game companies when it comes to fan-made games. It’s even employed talent like Christian Whitehead, who started out making fan games and went on to develop one of the best Sonic games of all time, Sonic Mania.
So, there you have it Sanic…Sonic fans, meme on!