‘The Murder Of Sonic The Hedgehog’ becomes the highest-rated ‘Sonic’ game on Steam

The Murder Of Sonic The Hedgehog, a visual novel released by Sega, has attracted over 1million players since launching on April Fool’s Day (April 1).

Though The Murder Of Sonic The Hedgehog was originally revealed as an April Fool’s Day joke, Sega quickly revealed that the game was real — and free.

Yesterday (April 4), Sega Of America’s Katie Chrzanowski revealed that in a matter of days, over 1million players have picked up The Murder Of Sonic The Hedgehog.

Over 1,000,000 of you have grabbed The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog and it’s currently the #61 highest rated game on Steam of ALL TIME.

Absolutely unreal. Thank you all so, so much. ???? pic.twitter.com/Cy2cIo2AHl

— Katie – MiniKitty (@KatieChrz) April 5, 2023

Chrzanowski also shared that the game had become one of the top-rated games on Steam. As SteamDB has recorded, The Murder Of Sonic The Hedgehog is currently the 62nd highest-ranked game on the storefront — making it the highest-ranked Sonic game on Steam. This comes as as no other Sonic game has cracked the top 250.

Additionally, the game has pulled ahead of the likes of Persona 4 Golden, Don’t Starve, Cuphead and Fallout: New Vegas; and sits just four places behind Sony‘s 2022 God Of War port.

Teased as a “bold new direction” for Sonic, The Murder Of Sonic The Hedgehog tasked players with solving the death of Sega’s iconic character.

“It’s Amy Rose’s birthday, and she’s hosting a murder mystery party on the Mirage Express,” reads the game’s Steam page. “When Sonic the Hedgehog becomes the game’s victim, everyone is off to get to the bottom of things. However, something feels a bit off – is this really an innocent game or is something more sinister afoot?”

The game’s player-submitted reviews are marked as ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ on Steam, with over 10,000 reviews recommending the game.

It “has no business being so good as an April Fool’s joke,” said one fan.

“I was not expecting a genuinely fun and polished experience for free as an April Fool’s joke,” reads a second review. “He’s finally dead,” added a third.

It’s not the first time that Sega has poked fun at its blue hedgehog. Last month it revealed that a character in Creative Assembly’s upcoming shooter Hyenas wears a bizarre Sonic cosplay.

In other gaming news, Paradox has revealed that deaths by illness were cut from Life By You due to COVID.