Sega says Sonic’s Fortnite debut took careful planning

Sega has talked more about how Sonic ended up in Fortnite and why it took so much work to make it happen. In a joint interview, Sega president and COO Shuji Utsumi and Epic Games Japan managing director Takayuki Kawasaki said the two companies had a lot of mutual respect, and Epic Games president Tim Sweeney’s love of Sonic also helped push the deal forward.

Utsumi said Sega had concerns about how Sonic would fit into Fortnite. The teams had to fix issues like Sonic’s body proportions and decide whether he should be added as-is. Sega also wanted a clear reason for why Sonic existed in this version of the game, so it created its own backstory and comic to make the crossover feel believable.

The collaboration has also done well with players. Kawasaki said Fortnite’s player numbers were up this season, and in the first weekend alone players collected more than 1.5 billion rings and defeated Dr Eggman over 14 million times.

Both companies see the crossover as a win. Sega gets Sonic in front of new players, while Fortnite gets another popular gaming character added to its growing lineup.