You may or may not be aware a new Sonic game came out last year. Sonic Rumble Party is a free, Fall Guys-esque experience, and you'd be forgiven for having missed it since the reception wasn't great. The returns haven't been, either, and Sega's rolling back its free-to-play plans in lieu of this and other releases underperforming.
The company says as much in the financial report for the fiscal year 2026. According to the presentation, "new F2P titles struggled in FY2026/3" – specifically, Sonic Rumble Party had a "weak performance" in the third quarter. Reports around the launch of the Sonic the Hedgehog spin-off in November had revenue for the first ten days at apparently below $250,000, a lackluster start that apparently didn't recover much in the months after.
But it's not just Tails, Amy, and Dr. Robotnik who weren't bringing in the dosh. Sega bought Angry Birds developer Rovio in 2023, and it's not been a fruitful partnership. "Did not achieve the creation of economic value through collaboration with Rovio," the slides state. Delays are noted as being an issue as well – Sonic Rumble Party took almost a year longer than planned to become publicly playable.
In response, Sega's "lowered the priority" of free-to-play projects in order to help the company's medium and long-term prospects. "Over 100" employees who were working in that space have since been moved onto the "Full Game development team focusing on mainstay IPs." In other words, Sonic Team, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio for the Yakuza and Super Monkey Ball series, Atlus for the Persona games, and beyond.
It's said that Rovio will "prioritize rebuilding first" before continuing to do what it's doing. Alas, Angry Birds lives to dive headfirst into a pile of miscellaneous blocks for another day.
In the same breath, Sega revealed the upcoming Super Game project is canceled as well. Uncertainty continues at the brand that once did what Ninten-don't, but it's nothing a new Golden Axe won't be able to fix. Yes, I'm still waiting – patiently.
