Takashi Iizuka Talks Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds’ Future, Fan Feedback, and the Game’s Arcade Roots

Sonic the Hedgehog’s latest chapter is racing ahead at full speed. Between a successful movie trilogy, major brand collaborations, and the launch of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, Sonic Team’s ambitions have never been clearer.

Speaking to Polygon at Brasil Game Show 2025, Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka thanked fans for the overwhelming response to CrossWorlds.
“We really appreciate all the positive comments we’ve gotten from fans and from reviewers. People really like the game, which gives us the confidence to continue making more content,” he said.

Iizuka explained that the team’s next steps will depend directly on community feedback. “If enough people are coming in and playing it, there are conversations about the game. We have one year of DLC, we could do year two, we could do year three of DLC,” he added. “Tell us what you want! These are the things we can do because it is an online game. We could add new gadgets, we could balance the game differently.”

Interestingly, the origins of CrossWorlds came about under unexpected circumstances. “It actually started because COVID happened and started affecting arcade sales and the profitability of the arcade development teams. And so SEGA said, ‘We need to restructure how our teams are working and what they’re working on,’” Iizuka recalled.

That restructuring led Sonic Team to merge with SEGA’s arcade racing division, creating what he described as a perfect partnership.
“That was really the opportunity for Sonic Team to think, we need to make a game with these guys. What are they best at? Racing games! What are we great at? Sonic! We’re going to make the best Sonic racing game because now we have the Sonic experience, we have the racing experience. It’s a perfect fit.”

The collaboration produced a racer that feels distinctly Sonic while delivering finely tuned driving mechanics. “Sonic must always be driving a really cool car. These aren’t go-karts, these are cars! And so even when the team was designing the vehicles, I would go in and tweak how the sides, front, and back looked to make sure every vehicle felt unique to that character, but also looked stylish,” Iizuka said.

He also emphasized that the “feel” of the game was crucial to its success. “Having Sonic just drive fast is great, that’s very Sonic. But it also needs to feel really good. The team spent a lot of time working on not just the speed, but the cornering, the handling, the drifting—all the other elements of racing that needed to go in to have it feel just like a 3D Sonic action game.”

Beyond gameplay, the team wanted CrossWorlds to bring Sonic’s universe—and others—to life. The Rival System was introduced to create direct racer interactions, something Iizuka admits was a challenge. “It was extremely difficult to go through this huge roster of characters, some of whom have never even met before,” he said. “Usually when writing a story, characters meet naturally, but this time they’re competing directly and commenting on each other. That made it very tricky.”

To justify the diverse roster, Sonic Team created the Travel Ring system—dimensional portals linking different worlds. This concept allowed crossovers like Hatsune Miku and Minecraft to naturally appear within Sonic’s world.
“The development team thinks it’s a lot of fun, and they thought it was a great way to bring all this play activity together. Instead of thinking of it as hard canon, we hope everyone enjoys it as a fun party experience with a story reason for why it’s happening, but not necessarily the absolute truth of the characters,” Iizuka said.

As Sonic Team continues refining CrossWorlds through player feedback and regular updates, Iizuka’s message is clear: the race isn’t over. It’s only just beginning.

Stay tuned to Sonic City for more Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds News and Updates.