Sega had to make a brand-new Sonic just so he could appear in Fortnite

Sonic the Hedgehog has arrived in Fortnite, but Sega had to get creative to allow the Blue Blur to appear in the game by creating a whole new version of the character.

Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4 focuses heavily on video game characters, with the likes of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro all arriving on the island. But one of the most exciting crossovers in the update saw Sonic, one of the most iconic gaming mascots of all-time, join the action.

He’s available as part of the latest Battle Pass, but the process to get him there wasn’t as easy as you might think.

Sega made new Sonic because he wasn’t allowed to hold a gun

In an interview with IGN, Sonic’s Creative Officer Takashi Iizuka explained that they couldn’t show the original version of the character holding a gun, so they had to create a whole new iteration.

“Epic Games came and spoke with us a couple of years ago about putting Sonic in Fortnite, but Sonic is a character that will never hold a gun,” Iizuka said. “And when thinking about the design of Fortnite, it was really hard to think about Sonic being in the game. But this time, we were able to take creative liberties and created Android Sonic.”

This gave them a loophole that allowed the devs to have their cake and eat it. Sonic could still appear in Fortnite, but it was Android Sonic holding the weapons.

Epic Games

Another adjustment they had to make was the design of Sonic, as Epic Games stressed that he needed to be the same size as other skins.

“One of the things that’s really important in Fortnite is to be able to have all the weapons and items and things to be used amongst all the different characters,” he added. “So, if we had our regular version of Sonic in there, it really wouldn’t work. You couldn’t use all the items and things to apply to your character.”

“We needed to have a character shape that is similar to all the other Fortnite characters. That was something that Epic Games said was really important: that we need to make sure we have the same shapes as all the other characters.”

This explains why the Sonic found on the Battle Pass is slightly taller than you might have imagined the hedgehog to be. Not only does this ensure that all of the items work with the skin, but it also means the hitbox is the same, so there is no competitive advantage.

Sonic and Tails also show up as Sprites, while his nemesis Dr. Eggman is a boss you can hunt down on the map.