Much like the movie industry, Lego has invested heavily in video game crossovers for the past half a decade or so. There are countless Mario and Minecraft sets, Fortnite got in on the fun a while back, and now it and Pokemon are doing big business together. Despite all of that video game Lego set success, it looks like two huge series are about to get cut from the toy makers’ portfolio.
Lego Appears To Have Abandoned Plans For New Sonic And Animal Crossing Sets
It’s believed Lego has effectively decided to stop producing new sets for Sonic the Hedgehog and Animal Crossing. That’s according to the typically reliable The Brick News. The account claims there are no new sets planned for either series in 2027, and that all sets across the Sonic and Animal Crossing collections will be retired.
There has been no confirmation from Lego as to whether it’s done with the two collections, but those two factors are pretty strong indicators that Sonic and Animal Crossing’s Lego escapades have come to an end. At best, they’ll lie dormant, but even that seems like wishful thinking considering how Lego typically treats its relationships with big IPs.
A Year Without A New Set Is Almost Certainly Bad News
Each series Lego works with has a cycle of sorts, and, at the very least, that cycle results in one new set per year. That low frequency is typically reserved for the series that stick to bigger sets, like The Lord of the Rings. Almost every LOTR Lego set is made up of thousands of pieces and costs hundreds of dollars, hence Lego not wanting to release more than one or two a year and overwhelm potential customers.
Sonic and Animal Crossing have sat on the opposite end of that scale. Almost all of their sets are smaller and cheaper, releasing in batches throughout the year. That’s why the reveal that Lego has nothing planned for either of them in 2027 strongly suggests that those games will no longer have characters and elements from their worlds turned into real-life sets.
The sad reality for those of you disappointed by this news is that Lego sets tied to big IPs have become such big business that even Sonic and Animal Crossing no longer measure up. Mario sets are incredibly popular, and now that Lego finally has the Pokemon license, not only can it afford to let some other smaller games go, but the less time it spends elsewhere, the more time it can spend dreaming up new ideas with The Pokemon Company.
Lego also failed to strike the right balance with Sonic and Animal Crossing in the same way that it has with its other video game crossovers. The average age of an Animal Crossing player is much higher than Lego seems to realize. All of the series’ sets were aimed specifically at children. Some bigger, more expensive sets might have had a wider appeal. As for Sonic, as much as I love the Blue Blur, he sadly can’t compete when his sets are sandwiched between a build-your-own Creeper and a real-life Battle Bus replica.
- Released
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June 23, 1991
- ESRB
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e
- Developer(s)
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Sonic Team
- Engine
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the hedgehog engine
