April Fools’ Day Sonic murder game becomes Sega’s best-reviewed PC title

WTF?! Not for the primary time, one thing that began as an April Fools’ joke has gone on to grow to be an surprising success. On this event, it was Sega’s The Homicide of Sonic the Hedgehog, a free visible novel wherein the speedy blue mascot has been killed (or has he?). Not solely has it grow to be Sega’s best-performing PC title but additionally the 62nd highest-rated sport on Steam.

On April 1, Sega joined the numerous different firms all over the world in doing one thing jokey for April Fools’ Day, and so The Homicide of Sonic the Hedgehog was launched. Whereas this visible novel is definitely no Return of the Obra Dinn, it is an fulfilling solution to spend a few hours with out spending any cash.

Whereas these kinds of April Fools’ jokes are often accomplished to garner a little bit of publicity, Sega’s sport has been extra profitable than the corporate probably imagined. Since its launch six days in the past, The Homicide of Sonic the Hedgehog has been downloaded over a million instances. It is presently the 62nd best-reviewed sport on Steam, sitting one above Undertale, and had been within the 61st place, because of 98% of its 11,000 Steam consumer critiques being optimistic.

Over 1,000,000 of you’ve grabbed The Homicide of Sonic the Hedgehog and it is presently the #61 highest rated sport on Steam of ALL TIME.

Completely unreal. Thanks all so, a lot. �’� pic.twitter.com/Cy2cIo2AHl

— Katie – MiniKitty (@KatieChrz) April 5, 2023

The recognition means the sport is now Sega’s best-reviewed title on Steam, edging forward of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Remodeled Assortment and Sonic Mania, each of which have 94% optimistic rankings.

We have seen actual and profitable merchandise originate from April Fools’ pranks earlier than. Razer’s Mission Breadwinner, which started as an April Fools’ joke in 2016, ended up turning into an actual kitchen toaster full with Razer Chroma lighting.

Then there was the Stack Overflow keyboard referred to as The Key which consists of solely three keys: Ctrl, C, and V. It happened when Stack Overflow stored exhibiting a tongue-in-cheek pop-up notifying customers that they had been virtually out of free copies each time they used a keyboard command to repeat characters from the location. The $29 actual product was so profitable that an up to date model that includes RGB and hot-swappable switches was created.

Extra lately, the Asus ROG Ally gaming handheld initially introduced as an April Fools’ joke can also be turning into an actual product, one smaller, lighter, and extra highly effective than the Steam Deck, in keeping with Asus.