Sonic: The Iconic Blue Hedgehog Makes A Strong Mark With Crossworlds, Hopefully Sooner then Later September 4, 2025

Sonic’s Crossworld’s of Chaos and Coincidences

According to Sega, the answer lies in the lengthy development cycles typical of major kart racing franchises. It seems that Mario Kart games have a history of long hiatuses between titles. Specifically, a wholly new Mario Kart game hasn’t been released since 2014’s Mario Kart 8, and it has been six years since Team Sonic Racing launched in 2019. This infrequency makes the 2025 release window for both World and Crossroad’s a notable, yet coincidental, alignment.

Sonic series producer Takashi Iizuka noted the development team was genuinely surprised by the Mario Kart World announcement. He further clarified that the team’s lack of access to Nintendo’s internal road map doesn’t mean they considered a new karting title a common accompaniment to new hardware. Therefore, an eventual Mario Kart release was an expected industry event, not a guiding factor for their own schedule.

Sonic Racing is a Speed Demon

Looking beyond the shared launch window, a further coincidence emerges in the similar innovative direction both games are taking. By introducing a new kind of fluidity between race tracks, each title is radically altering its series’ traditional formula. While World incorporates open-world sections, CrossWorlds utilizes instantaneous portals to other maps.

Despite their distinct mechanics, they share a common goal of connecting different environments into a more cohesive and explorable whole. Whether this parallel development suggests a shared vision for the future of the genre has yet to be seen. Yet, Sega maintains a firm position on its creative independence, despite these overlapping concepts.

According to the studio, developing the best possible Sonic racing title was their stated goal, remaining unchanged by the reveal of World. Ultimately, the team asserts that their design choices were internally driven and that the competing title will have no influence on their project. Meanwhile, fans are gearing up for Crossworld’s, which is generating significant buzz ahead of its multi-platform release on September 25th. If early impressions are anything to go by, then the game is successfully carving its own unique path and fulfilling a specific desire for racing fans.