It may not be the best Sonic game, but Sonic Frontiers was a breath of fresh air for the modern 3D era of the franchise. After years of Boost Sonic games coming out to varied receptions, getting support from a large portion of the fanbase and selling well is better than expected for Sonic Frontiers. While parts of the game came out rough, the core ideas of placing Sonic in a giant field and having him fight epic boss battles carried many players through the game. It feels like Sonic the Hedgehog is finally stepping into a new era after the last one overstayed its welcome.

RELATED: Estimating When Each Sonic Frontiers DLC Pack Will Release

Sonic Frontiers' Updates Can't Be Too Large

sonic frontiers kronos

Right now, three main updates are planned to release across 2023 for Sonic Frontiers. The first update should come in the first half of the year, bringing a juke box, photo mode, and new challenge modes. A second update will apparently do something special for Sonic's birthday as well as add open zone challenges and a new kind of Koco, so it's expected to drop around the original Sonic the Hedgehog release date of June 23. The final major update will be a full-on story expansion and new playable characters, but there's no indication of what this means besides pictures of Amy, Knuckles, Tails, and Sage. It could recount the heroes' interactions with Sage in Cyber Space while Sonic is elsewhere, but fans have high hopes regardless.

They may want to keep their expectations in check, as this expansion probably won't be more than a few hours long. As is true for most post-launch support in non-service games, the full brunt of development has already moved elsewhere. Frontiers could get more attention than most depending on how many new assets and levels are going to be added, but there should still be a fair amount of recycled content. Managing hype for Sonic Frontiers' roadmap will be vital, and Sonic Team will want to be forthright with its intended scope in the coming months. Development focus has likely gone to the next big Sonic game, as it should.

The Next Sonic Game Needs To Start Production

Sonic Chaos Island Yellow Emerald

Rebuilding Sonic the Hedgehog after every major outing has been exhausting for fans and developers alike, and the better-received Sonic Frontiers provides a more defined blueprint to move forward with. The five years between an underwhelming Sonic Forces and a slightly undercooked Sonic Frontiers could be sidestepped, but development would need to go full steam ahead as soon as possible. Ideally, by the time Sonic Frontiers' skeleton team is able to rejoin the rest of Sonic Team, plans for the next installment would already be laid out. After that, it's just a matter of addressing what didn't work in Frontiers while building the next game.

The need to move on will keep Sonic Frontiers' support short, but much will be forgiven if it's also sweet. A good send-off would involve allowing Sonic Frontiers' new playable characters to be used outside their expansion's content. Compatibility with the base game's map could enable players to make their own fun in the open zones, especially if the other post-launch challenges accommodate them. It will disappoint some, but Sonic Frontiers' development should wrap up quickly, allowing the next game to come sooner and turn out better.

Sonic Frontiers is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

MORE: How a Sonic Frontiers Sequel Could Improve Upon the First Game