Sonic Origins Has Some Bullshit DLC

Were you excited yesterday by the announcement of Sonic Origins, a modern remake of four classic Sonic games? You might want to pump your brakes, then, because this game has some of the dumbest DLC and preorder exclusivity I have ever seen.

Right after the game’s announcement yesterday, a chart was posted on its official site, helpfully outlining for fans the ways they’d be able to ensure they received all the content available for this game on the day of its release. The only way to do that, predictably, would be to both preorder the game and make sure you opted for the Digital Deluxe Edition. If you didn’t, and still wanted to get everything on offer, you would need to…uh…

If you’re on mobile and can’t see this, it shows all the different stuff you get (and don’t get) when you buy the two versions of the game and download its three separate pieces of DLC, one of which is only obtainable if you preorder Sonic Origins. The first thing you get purchasing either copy is the “Main Game”, which is an awfully ominous way of starting things off.

Next up is Mirror Mode, a Sonic series staple and now something you unlock instantly if you preorder either version of the game. Then there are “Hard Missions”, available if you buy the Digital Deluxe edition or spring for the “Premium Fun Pack”. Want a “Letterboxed Background”? That’s available with the preorder DLC and the “Premium Fun Pack”.

Then there’s shit like “character animation during music islands”, and “additional music tracks from Mega Drive/Genesis titles”, again available with either the Digital Deluxe Edition or the DLC packs (neither of which have release dates or prices).

Fans were as upset as you’d imagine, and even some rival companies took the opportunity to take the piss:

Our marketing department created a handy guide for preordering Trek to Yomi.

Please use it to navigate your path to purchase. pic.twitter.com/cN9f303FIZ

— DevolverPunk (@devolverdigital) April 20, 2022

Splitting up “character animations in the main menu” for DLC purchases reads like a Hard Drive article, so it’s deeply funny to me —and entirely predictable—that multiple levels of sales and executives at Sega looked at this chart and thought it was a legit and credible way to sell a video game.

It’s unclear if any of this stuff can be unlocked later through play, so I’ve asked Sega to confirm that with us. Even if it can, though, locking any of this stuff away for any amount of time, let alone enough to warrant making a chart like this, can get right in the bin.