This Sonic Confirmation Means More Than You Realized

On Dec. 9, viewers who tuned into The Game Awards were treated to a tidal wave of trailers, features and altogether new announcements during the course of the nearly three-and-a-half-hour event. Amidst announcements for titles such as the upcoming "Star Wars: Eclipse" and a sequel to the cult-classic "Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine," Sega made plenty of fans happy by formally announcing the name of its next "Sonic" title. The new open-world "Sonic" game may have seen its fair share of leaks, and players may have expected its forthcoming announcement — but the official "Sonic Frontiers" reveal might actually mean more than players initially realize.

The upcoming "Sonic" title drops the blue speedster into his first open-world adventure, and it looks like the game will take a degree of inspiration from "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild." While the change of pace and luster of a new "Sonic" game might be getting the lion's share of the spotlight, the existence of "Sonic Frontiers" may also give credence to the possibility of a long-awaited sequel to "Super Mario Odyssey."

Back in November 2019, a post appeared on 4Chan, seemingly detailing several concepts for upcoming video games. The anonymous user claimed to have been part of an online survey during which they were shown several different titles to gauge their interest. Although some commenters met the user with skepticism, others recognized there could be some legitimacy to the information — especially considering the pictures that were added to the post. 

The media shared by the anonymous user only showed a small amount of information, but between the legible text and the bits of images in-frame, mentions of "a new Sonic game set in the 'Starfall Islands'" seem to close to the present reality to completely write off.

Alongside the "Sonic Frontiers" evidence, the user also commented on other titles they'd seen. One appeared to be another "Sonic" game centered around multiplayer elements. Perhaps the most exciting news is that the poster claimed Sonic wasn't the only iconic character they'd seen. The user explained that they were given a look at a concept for "Super Mario Odyssey 2" that featured Luigi as a playable character. 

Though there hasn't been any word on a sequel to "Super Mario Odyssey," the confirmation of "Sonic Frontiers" has made some fans give this 4Chan post a second look. All that's left now is for players to wait for those hopes to come to fruition.