Ahead of the launch of Sonic Origins, Sega announced that they will be delisting classic Sonic the Hedgehog titles from digital stores.
If you want to fill your digital libraries with old Sonic the Hedgehog games, it's time for you to make your purchase. Ahead of the release of the remaster collection Sonic Origins, Sega announced that they will be pulling out the following titles from digital game stores from all platforms they're currently available on May 20, 2022:
- Sonic the Hedgehog 1
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Sonic 3 & Knuckles
- Sonic CD
The first three games in the list will all be featured in Sonic Origins.
Sega notes that there will be a couple of exceptions: Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2 will remain available via SEGA AGES on the Nintendo Switch and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will still be playable via Sega Genesis on Nintendo Switch Online +. More reasons to get a Nintendo Switch Online + subscription, I guess?
On more serious terms, this insidious move will surely not sit well with gamers. Pulling out classic versions of games takes away agency from players – what if they want to play the classic versions rather than the remastered versions? And what if – god forbid – Sonic Origins ends up like Grand Theft Auto Trilogy Remastered Collection? Then players will no longer have access to actually playable versions of a game. Basically, Sega says whether you like it or not this is the only way you'll get to play these classic Sonic titles.
Thankfully, it's unlikely that Sega will mess up Sonic Origins, especially since these classic titles aren't as complicated as Grand Theft Auto games. Still, there are arguments to be made on how this move goes against efforts of video game preservation, and how this move is anti-consumer and wholly unnecessary.
With how negatively received Sega's announcement of Sonic Origins' overly-complicated DLC has been, we imagine this move won't be winning them new fans.
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