Sonic Forces: Rival Rush Launches on Nex Playground Today

The game joins Play Pass, Nex Playground’s subscription library, with SEGA HARDlight adapting the Sonic Forces running and action formula around full-body movement rather than traditional controls. The September 30 announcement had only narrowed its arrival to the week beginning October 5.

Nex is also marking the week with a new Nex Playground × Wrexham AFC commercial starring club co-chairmen Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, alongside Wrexham players Josh Windass and Ben Sheaf. Produced with Maximum Effort, the ad turns a player recruitment interview into a pitch for Nex Playground, with Sonic Forces: Rival Rush arriving on Play Pass the following day.

Sonic Forces: Rival Rush is only days away.

Nex has announced that the motion-controlled Sonic game is coming to Nex Playground next week, narrowing its previous Fall 2026 release window to the week beginning October 5. An exact release date has not been announced yet, so for now “next week” is as specific as Nex is getting.

The project itself goes back a little further. Nex and SEGA first announced it during Sonic’s 35th Anniversary celebrations on June 23, when it was still known simply as Sonic Forces (Working Title). Developed by SEGA HARDlight, the game was described as a new motion-controlled take on Sonic Forces built around Nex Playground’s active-play system, with a release planned for later in 2026 through Play Pass.

The proper Sonic Forces: Rival Rush name arrived on August 26 as part of Nex’s gamescom announcements. That update also narrowed the game from “later this year” to Fall 2026, but still stopped short of giving fans anything resembling a firm launch date.

This latest post is the next step. Nex is now saying the game will arrive next week, which leaves a much smaller window for its debut. The company’s official game catalogue still lists Rival Rush as Coming Soon, describing it as an “action-packed race with Sonic and friends.”

The game reworks the mobile Sonic Forces formula for Nex Playground, replacing traditional controls with body movement tracked through the system’s camera. Nex previously said HARDlight was adapting the familiar running and action gameplay into a physically active experience designed for repeat play.

Sonic City’s 35th Anniversary Wiki article has tracked the project since its earlier reveal, but Nex’s new announcement finally gives us a much better idea of when players will actually be able to try it.

Unless Nex follows up with a specific date before then, expect Sonic Forces: Rival Rush to hit Nex Playground sometime during the week beginning October 5, 2026.

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