SEGA: Sonic Superstars had “weaker start” than anticipated

As part of its recent financial results briefing, SEGA Sammy Holdings president and group CEO Haruki Satomi commented on the initial sales performance of Sonic Superstars. The company stated that its new game saw “a slightly weaker start than we had anticipated”.

One interesting note from the presentation is that Sonic “sells the most is mainly November to December”, so sales could pick up. SEGA also intends to spend most of its marketing budget during “the Thanksgiving and holiday season from November onwards.”

Satomi said the following during the presentation regarding Sonic Superstars’ sales:

“As for Sonic, we have released Sonic Superstars and Sonic Origins Plus. Sonic Superstars was released in October, which is a slightly weaker start than we had anticipated, but in reality, when Sonic IP sells the most is mainly November to December, and more than 90% of this title’s marketing cost will be spent in the Thanksgiving and holiday season from November onwards. Although in the financial results announced today, we are forecasting this title’s sales slightly weaker with the view of the status of start mentioned above, we plan to continue our marketing efforts to sell on the same level as Sonic Frontiers.”

Satomi added during a Q&A session that it believes Sonic Superstars was impacted by a number of other games launching at the same time. However, he mentioned that “the Metacritic score and user score are higher than Sonic Frontiers, and we would like to continue to sell firmly.”

Sonic Superstars had major competition in the form of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. SEGA’s title launched on October 17, but Mario came out just three days later.