The SONIC THE HEDGEHOG Series Has Managed To Sell 800 Million Units Since Its Inception

Sonic the Hedgehog is a series of games developed and published by Sega that originated in the 16-Bit era with Sonic the Hedgehog being released for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive in 1991. The popularity of the blue hedgehog has even made him Sega's official mascot, even to this day.

Over the years, Sonic has been in a plethora of games released on multiple consoles, and after Sega left the console market in January of 2001, Sonic the Hedgehog titles began releasing on other consoles, even Nintendo: Sega's lifelong rival at the time. Recently, Sega Sammy Holdings released their 2018 integrated report, which revealed an interesting fact about the Sonic series. 

As it turns out, the Sonic the Hedgehog series has managed to sell an approximate 800 million units since its inception back in 1991. This number considers packaged physical copies, as well as digital downloads across multiple platforms Sonic the Hedgehog games have been released on over the years.

The tile-matching Puyo Puyo game series takes a respectable second place by selling 27 million units, and the popular Ryu ga Gotoku series(Yakuza as known in Western countries) tkaes a very respectable third place with 11 million units sold across all available platforms.

While some people may consider that Sonic the Hedgehog titles have been a bit of a hit or miss over the past few years(with the exception of the excellent Sonic Mania) the character's popularity is undeniable and it's great that Sonic has managed to stay this relevant even after Sega abandoned the console market. Our hats are off to you, Sega and Sonic.