Sonic Origins has had a rough launch, to say the least. Complaints of bugs were joined by developers calling out Sega for a rushed development cycle, resulting in crunch. This is a disappointing turn for fans, as these devs now criticizing Sega are part of the same team that brought us Sonic Mania, indicating that their relationship with the Sonic creator has fractured.
However, developer Simon Thomley from Headcannon has now clarified that he would work with Sega again, just “under the right conditions”. This comes shortly after Thomley spoke out about the state of Sonic Origins at launch, expressing his disappointment and frustration over the number of bugs found in the finished product.
“No, I am not fighting with Sega, and no, I have not cut off Sega”, Thomley, better known as Stealth said on Twitter. “I’m willing to do more work under the right conditions; whether they want to work with me again is an entirely separate matter.”
Thomley has been vocal in his criticisms of Sonic Origins’ development cycle. His responsibility was working on individual Mega Drive games, a task he says he was rushed to complete. He also shared that issues were likely caused by Sega’s implementation of the games in the Sonic Origins collection, saying “what is in Origins is also not what we turned in”.
Regardless, Thomley has also defended Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka, as well as those he worked with at Sega of America.
“My dealings with most of the SOA staff were actually very pleasant for the most part. The people I talked to directly were very respectful, including Iizuka-san, who I am very saddened to know is so hated for things so far beyond his control.”
In better news, Thomley shared that it’s possible Origins will receive fixes down the line. His condemnation of Sega doesn’t mean that the collection game isn’t a priority anymore.
If you want to try it out for yourself, Sonic Origins is available now on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.