Sonic Rumble

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Sonic Rumble
Sonic Rumble icon.jpg
App icon
Developers Rovio Entertainment
Sonic Team
Publisher Sega
Director Makoto Tase
Producer Takashi Iizuka
Series Sonic the Hedgehog
Engine Unity
Platforms
ReleaseNovember 5, 2025
Genres Party, battle royale
Modes Multiplayer, single-player

Sonic Rumble is a 2025 party battle royale game in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, developed by Rovio Entertainment and published by Sega. It features players as toy versions of Sonic characters competing in various challenges and minigames. [1]

Contents

Initially announced in May 2024, Sonic Rumble released for Windows, iOS, and Android on November 5, 2025, after multiple delays.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot, in which Sonic is seen running away from a giant chopper Sonic Rumble closed beta ss.png
Gameplay screenshot, in which Sonic is seen running away from a giant chopper

Sonic Rumble is an online party game in which numerous players compete against each other in various mini-games and challenges, with the goal of collecting the most rings. The game supports up to 32 players [2] in the first round, with half of the players being eliminated afterwards. The second round features the remaining 16 players, and again, half of them are eliminated. The final round then consists of the remaining 8 players, who compete in a final round to determine the winner.[ citation needed ]

The game features multiple game modes, which consist of the following:

The game also supports custom matches; players can host their own lobbies in this mode, allowing them to compete against CPUs, friends, or other players.[ citation needed ]

Development

Sonic Rumble was developed primarily by Sega, with input from Sonic Team. [4] Rovio Entertainment was in charge of marketing and community relations for the game. [5]

Program optimization was a major concern during development, as many mobile devices do not have powerful hardware. [5] Hiromitsu Soto, the game's lead programmer, stated "On mobile, we prioritized lightweight performance to support a broad spectrum of hardware, including low-end devices. On PC, our focus shifted toward high-fidelity visuals and low-latency responsiveness. Balancing these needs required iterative testing and fine-tuning across platforms." [6]

Rumble was designed as a community-focused game, and player feedback from the closed beta testing was considered essential. The "Quick Rumble" gameplay mode was conceived from such feedback; the game was initially composed exclusively of three-round matches, but upon realizing how many players play mobile games without a lot of time to spare, the developers implemented Quick Rumble so players could engage in a single round. [5] To utilize such feedback, the game was delayed multiple times, providing the developers more time to improve balancing leading up to the global release. [5]

Release

Sonic Rumble was released for Windows, iOS, and Android on November 5, 2025. [7] It was first made available to play via a closed beta from May 24–26, 2024, [8] [9] and was initially expected for a full release between late 2024 and early 2025, using the date of February 28, 2025, as a placeholder. [10] However, it was revealed in March 2025 that the game was pushed back to the second quarter of the year. [11] [12]

On April 8, 2025, Sega had announced that the game would launch worldwide on May 8. [13] However, on April 30, 2025, the release date was postponed indefinitely in order to address quality-related issues. [14] Pocket Gamer reported in May that Sega intended to release Rumble later in 2025. [15] In October, the final release date was reported by Engadget. [7]

Reception

Pre-release

Giovanni Colantonio's pre-release review on Digital Trends praised the gameplay as fun, but criticized its slow pace, considering the game's presence in the fast-paced Sonic the Hedgehog series. Colantonio compared the game to Fall Guys and felt it was like "an unrelated game that's been reskinned to look like the franchise," and that it was missing what "make[s] Sonic games fun". [16]

Post-release

Sonic Rumble, upon its global release, was review bombed by users on Steam. [17] [18]

Awards

YearCeremonyCategoryResultRef.
2025 The Game Awards Best Mobile GamePending [19]

References

  1. ↑ Dean, Takashi (October 5, 2024). "How Sonic Rumble is taking Sega into mobile games: Interview". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on October 9, 2024. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  2. ↑ Shirey, J Brodie (October 8, 2024). "Free to Play Sonic Game Removing Controversial Feature". Game Rant. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  3. ↑ "TSS Hands-On Preview: Sonic Rumble Beta". Sonic Stadium. October 3, 2024. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  4. ↑ Inamoto, Tetsuya (September 30, 2024). "「Sonic Rumble」合同インタビュー。バトルロイヤルというソニックシリーズの新たな試みについて詳しく聞いた［TGS2024］" [Sonic Rumble Group Interview. We Learned More About the Sonic Series' New Venture into the Battle Royale Genre [TGS2024]]. 4Gamer (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 9, 2025. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Astle, Aaron (March 13, 2025). "Behind the scenes of Sonic Rumble's delay, development and the Rovio x Sega partnership". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on November 9, 2025. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
  6. ↑ Axler, Adam. "How SEGA and Rovio built Sonic Rumble for speed, scale, and stability". Unity. Archived from the original on November 9, 2025. Retrieved November 9, 2025.[ better source needed ]
  7. 1 2 Moon, Mariella (October 22, 2025). "Sonic Rumble is coming out November 5". Engadget . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  8. ↑ Cardy, Simon (October 1, 2024). "Sonic Rumble is a New Platformer Battle Royale Game for iOS and Android". IGN. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Sonic Rumble officially announced: new details and screenshot". Tails Channel. September 28, 2024. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  10. ↑ Schomer, Matthew (December 5, 2024). "Sonic Rumble Pre-Registrations Live". GameRant . Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  11. ↑ Deschamps, Marc (March 5, 2025). "Sega Shares Update on Sonic Rumble and Sonic the Hedgehog Studios". Comicbook.com . Retrieved March 26, 2025.
  12. ↑ Nightingale, Ed (February 26, 2025). "Sonic Rumble, Sega's mobile party game from Angry Birds studio, delayed into spring". Eurogamer . Retrieved March 26, 2025.
  13. ↑ Romano, Sal (April 8, 2025). "Sonic Rumble launches May 8". Gematsu. Retrieved April 8, 2025.
  14. ↑ Kennedy, Victoria (April 30, 2025). "Angry Birds maker and Sega delay Sonic Rumble release once again". Eurogamer . Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  15. ↑ Astle, Aaron (May 14, 2025). "Sega still aiming for Sonic Rumble 2025 release after last-minute delay". Pocket Gamer . Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  16. ↑ Colantonio, Giovanni (November 14, 2024). "Sonic Rumble is a fun battle royale, but an oddly slow Sonic spinoff". Digital Trends . Digital Trends Media Group. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  17. ↑ Kantor, Jonathan H. (November 5, 2025). "New Sonic Game Gets Review Bombed at Launch Following Several Delays". ComicBook.com . Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  18. ↑ McGlynn, Anthony (November 5, 2025). "The latest Sonic game is getting ripped apart on Steam: "In what world can you get a whole, fully featured, actually fun racing game for less than the price of 2 skins here"". GamesRadar+ . Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  19. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (November 17, 2025). "The Game Awards announces Game of the Year 2025 nominees". Polygon . Retrieved November 18, 2025.
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