- Upcoming crossover puzzle game Sonic Pico Park is intended to bring Sonic to a wider audience
- It's intended to be "very easy to pick up and play"
- "A lot of people are aware of Sonic the Hedgehog, and it's interesting because not a lot of those people are actually gamers," the head of Sonic Team explained
Announced at Summer Game Fest 2026, Sonic Pico Park is an upcoming crossover game that combines the casual puzzling of Pico Park with the platforming chaos of Sonic the Hedgehog.
A few days after the reveal, I chatted to Pico Park president Shintarou Shimazu and Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka about the unlikely pairing, which the developers hope will help bring the character to a wider audience.
"We said, 'Hey, we're really popular in China, but a lot of people in the West don't really know Pico Park. How can we make a game format that's going to really reach out to a broader audience of people?'" Shimazu reveals.
He explains that the original designer of Pico Park, Shunsuke Miyake, used to work at Sega. "Let's see if we can collaborate with Sonic, who's really strong in the West, and put them together and make something that everyone around the world is going to be really interested in playing," he said.
Iizuka went on to say that, in addition to appealing to complete Sonic newcomers, he hopes that Sonic Pico Park will resonate with fans of the character that might not enjoy the traditional platformer games.
"We have Sonic in movies, we have Sonic in Netflix animated shows, we have games coming out. There's lots of different ways that people can experience and enjoy Sonic," he explains.
"A lot of people are aware of Sonic the Hedgehog, and it's interesting because not a lot of those people are actually gamers, but they're experiencing Sonic. Sonic Pico Park is one of these games that we think is perfect for those non-gamers.
"It's going to be very easy to pick up and play, and have a lot of fun with, and it's good to get them to experience Sonic if they just watched the movies, but haven't played the games."
"You don't need to be super hardcore to be good at this one," Shimazu says. "A lot of people can play and enjoy the experience. They designed the game for even up to eight people to be playing all at the same time, whether you have eight people in the room, or you're going online."
Sonic Pico Park is expected to release later this year.
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