Lifetime sales of Sonic the Hedgehog have zoomed past 1.5 billion

By Anne-Marie Ostler
published

Copies of Sonic games are certainly going fast

Sonic Frontiers
(Image credit: Sega)

The Sonic franchise has managed to sell more than 1.5 billion units in total. 

Sonic the Hedgehog raced onto the gaming scene all the way back in 1991 with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Mega Drive. Having appeared on many platforms over the years, this speedy anthropomorphic blue Hedgehog is known and loved by players of all ages, and he's got the sales figures to prove it.

As spotted by video game industry analyst and Twitter user MauroNL, the latest FY2022 annual report by Sega reveals lifetime sales (that's combined game sales and downloads across premium and free-to-play games) of Sonic the Hedgehog are now more than 1.51 billion. Last year's report shows sales for the Sonic franchise stood at 1.38 billion, meaning more than 30 years later, the series is showing no signs of slowing down. 

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Likely helping to boost Sonic's profile even more is the recent CGI movie sequel, something which Sega CEO Haruki Satomi touched on in the report. "Released worldwide in the spring of 2022, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 broke the record for the highest-grossing video game-based film ever in the U.S., and met with high acclaim worldwide." He added, "I saw a local shopping mall in the States that was overflowing with Sonic merchandise."

When it comes to Sega's other series, it seems none can keep up with Sonic. As the report shows, Puyo Puyo currently has a total of 37.7 million sales, and Virtua Fighter has managed to shift 18.8 million units so far. In terms of IP acquired by Sega, the strategy series Total War has reached an impressive 40.4 million in sales, while figures for Football Manager currently stand at 25 million.

See which of the iconic blue Hedgehog's adventures takes the gold in our guide to the best Sonic games.

Anne-Marie Ostler
Anne-Marie Ostler
Freelance Writer

Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.