Sonic Racing Crossworlds is the next mainline installment in Sega’s popular kart racing franchise. The Mario Kart-like racing game is set to launch later this year and will include the roster of characters you’d expect, like Sonic himself, Tails, Dr. Robotnik, and uh...SpongeBob SquarePants? Wait a minute.
Yes, according to numerous and very authentic-looking leaks from an X account known only as Insider, SpongeBob as well as characters from Minecraft and Avatar: The Last Airbender will be playable in Sonic Racing Crossworlds via DLC. We don’t know how much the DLC will cost or when it will be released, but based on gameplay, screenshots, and even internal documents posted by Insider, it seems like Sonic Racing Crossworlds is going to be chockablock with crossover characters, karts, and even tracks.
In the new leaks, we can see internal documents that indicate that various crossover tracks will also be available as DLC. One track is set in the TMNT universe and will have us driving through sewers and New York City while encountering characters from the franchise, including Super Fly. In another leak, Insider shared video of the SpongeBob SquarePants-inspired level that includes Bikini Bottom locations like the Krusty Krab.
Kotaku has contacted Sega for more information about the DLC characters and leaks. Non-Sonic characters have appeared in previous Sonic racing games, including Team Fortress 2 mercs and more. But this seems an all-new scale.
According to Insider, the footage showing off SpongeBob racing on a surfboard comes from an earlier build of the game and isn’t representative of the final product. That also explains why SpongeBob is using Sonic’s icon, and some of the missing audio and performance issues. How Insider got their hands on it is unknown.
Of course, until Sega officially announces any of this, this could all still fall apart, or some of this content might not ever see the light of day. Still, the leaks seem to indicate that Sega is heavily invested in developing this crossover content. It seems very likely that in the near future, SpongeBob, Sonic, and Alex from Minecraft will be racing each other in the sewers of TMNT. Slowly, everything merges together as we march to our grey goo pop culture future. Exciting times.
Sonic Racing Crossworlds is launching sometime later this year for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.
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