It looks like Sonic fans won’t have to wait that much longer to learn about the Blue Blur’s next racer.
Sega shared a teaser trailer for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds last December. While they really didn’t reveal anything, we could clearly identify Shadow the Hedgehog revving up his racing vehicle, the Dark Reaper, as it appeared he was driving off, not into the sunset, but into what looked like a wormhole or portal of some sorts.
The end of the trailer also immediately confirmed the game’s platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Epic Game Store. And that’s all they confirmed at that time, but a new flurry of rumors suggests that we are about to get more.
As shared on the GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit by user Pingas23457, a fan caught Sonic Team producer Joel Youkhanna linking to the announcement of today’s upcoming State of Play. And, he shared this caption:
“Oh look, a new State of Play. #knowingsmile”
That tweet has since been deleted, which one can take as a sign that it has been misinterpreted, or that Youkhanna let the hedgehog out of the bag too early.
But it may not be a coincidence that that subreddit has other posts claiming to have leaks from Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. For one, new Twitter accounts with related names just popped up. One named Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds used the handle @RaceCrossWorlds, and one named Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Japan uses the handle @CrossWorldsJPN.
Another post from Redditor udderchaos2005 found Twitter user otaldofuntime sharing alleged leaked pictures of the game. One screen shows what looks like its start or attract screen. Two other pictures show Sonic doing his thing. One screenshot shows Sonic in his vehicle of choice, the Speed Star, racing at night towards a sphere, which could be a wormhole, portal, or just another racer getting blown up.
Interestingly enough, the other screenshot shows Sonic on a smaller vehicle, in what appears to be a glass, or at least clear, racing course. Is Sonic and his friends hoverboarding in this game, just line in Sonic Riders?
The image is blurry so we could be mistaken, but it definitely looks like Sonic is riding the same hoverboard he used in the Sonic Riders racing games. We also don’t see any other racers in this screen, so we don’t know if racers can freely switch between hoverboards and cars, or if there are clearly separated hoverboard races and car races.
It is possible that these rumors just happened to appear at the same time and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds won’t be at today’s State of Play after all. But it would conveniently line up that some screens would get leaked now because Sega is about to reveal the game to the world at Sony’s event.
