Sonic’s new Olympic license sparks hope for return of fan-favorite series
Sonic at the Olympic Games. Certainly has a nice ring to it, wouldn’t you say? Well, it just might be a reality as the Blue Blur seals a deal with the International Olympic Committee, resulting in a multi-year Sonic Olympic licensing agreement, and it gives me hope Sonic and pals may take to the track and field in some of the most iconic events to be part of the historic competition.
Dubbed the Five Rings collaboration, you can see the legendary Olympic rings with a Sonic twist, with one of the images showing the hedgehog on what appears to be a snowboard, with the rings below him – the snowboard is what I find to be the most interesting thing here, as the next Winter Olympic Games are in Italy in February 2026. Does this image indicate that a new Sonic game is coming, one that sees popular Sonic characters duke it out for gold medals in winter-based events? I certainly hope so, we haven’t had an at the Olympic Winter Games since 2013 for the Sochi 2014 competition.
“The IOC is delighted to unite with SEGA for this exciting new chapter for the Olympic brand, embracing the power of storytelling and innovation to engage audiences globally,” says IOC TMS deputy managing director Elisabeth Allaman. “By combining the universally recognised Olympic rings with the beloved character of Sonic, we are creating fresh opportunities for fans of all ages to experience the spirit of sport and play in new and memorable ways.”
While I hope this partnership leads to new sports games featuring Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles, and the rest, we need to address the elephant in the room. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is the actual name of the series I keep referring to, yes, the Italian plumber and other Mario characters are also part of these adventures. In fact, the series is a Nintendo exclusive, so where is Mario?
The partnership is between Sega and the IOC, but who’s to say that this means Mario isn’t going to make the cut? Mario games are huge sellers, as are Sonic games. Combining the two always spells a big seller, and the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series is always a fun time; the most recent installment is for the Tokyo 2020 competition. I wouldn’t rule out Mario being part of the next game – if we get one. Plus, I’d argue that the Switch 2 is the only console right now that’s truly capable of giving you the experience you want, thanks to the Joy-Cons.
Seriously, while we gave it an 8/10 in our Sonic at the Olympic Games review, with Glen Fox claiming it offers “solid minigame collection,” the mobile game just couldn’t replicate the same experience, at least to me. Are you even playing one of these games if your arms don’t feel like they’re about to fall off after one of the track or swimming events? Plus, even as someone who mostly finds Mario boring, I actually missed seeing him, Luigi, Peach, and the others in this one.
Clearly, I’m a huge fan of this collaboration, but I do have a bone to pick with Sega. Why is Amy Rose green? Yes, I know the Olympic ring colors are blue, yellow, black, green, and red, and the other four colors have the perfect characters, but Amy is pink. She is a popular character, I know, but Jet and Vector are actually green; they’d make more sense.
Ultimately, only time will tell if we really do get a new game, especially after Mario and Sonic seemingly retired from their Olympic careers last year. Perhaps Sonic will return solo, maybe they’ll both hit the slopes in the next few months for the Winter Olympics. All I know is that I’m going to be watching closely. To learn more about titles we know are coming, check out our new Switch games guide.
