Sonic Rumble, Sega’s forthcoming party game for mobile and PC, has been delayed into the spring.
The game is currently available in pre-launch in 44 countries, with a global launch (including UK and US) originally planned for winter.
Now, in a new update from developer Rovio (known for the Angry Birds games), the global launch has been pushed back to spring, with its 1.2.0 update.
Sonic Rumble will be a free-to-play battle royale game where 32 players collect rings in Fall Guys-esque competitive rounds.
Rovio has revealed the 1.2.0 version will also include a ranked competitive mode, a “Crews” feature to allow players to join up together, and the inclusion of character-specific abilities.
Before that, a 1.1.2 update for those in pre-launch will add a Quick Rumble mode for players to enter a single round challenge.
“We would like to extend a huge thank you to our players and Sonic fans for their patience in waiting for the global launch of Sonic Rumble,” wrote the developer in an update. “The team is committed to delivering a memorable experience for Sonic fans with even more new game mechanics, new features, and more exciting content to look forward to.”
Known predominantly for its Angry Birds games, Sonic Rumble will be Rovio’s first brand new game since the studio was acquired by Sega in 2023 for £625m.
Sonic Rumble is also notable for its lack of gacha mechanic, due to its lack of popularity in the west.
Said Sonic franchise lead Takashi Iizuka: “In the Japanese and Asian markets, it’s common to have to spend tens of thousands of yen [in a game] until you draw a rare character and finally get to move on. But this is not the case in the global market, especially for an action game like Sonic Rumble, where players should be able to enjoy the game on an equal footing. The starting point of this project itself was to make it a mobile game that would sell globally. Therefore, the monetisation model was designed from the beginning based on global standards.”
The game will feature a season pass instead.
