- Pico Park president Shintarou Shimazu says there were "pressures" making Sonic Pico Park
- He says Sega probably felt "risky" working with an indie company
- Shimazu adds that he thinks "it even took some guts"
Pico Park president Shintarou Shimazu has discussed the pressure of taking on Sega's beloved Sonic franchise to create its crossover indie game, Sonic Pico Park.
Speaking to TechRadar Gaming at Summer Game Fest 2026 following the game's official announcement, Shimazu explained that it seemed "risky" for the small indie company to take on such a huge IP, and even for Sega to agree.
Shimazu went on to say, "It would be a lie to say there's no pressure taking on this great IP from this massive corporation," but working with game director Shunsuke Miyake made the process easier because he and Miyake are both close in age and played very similar games to Sonic as children and grew up with the IP.
"Working with a huge company like Sega as a small indie developer, it's a little risky," Shimazu said. "I'm sure it even took some guts on the Sega side to say 'We're going to give you our character, and we expect you to do a great job.'
"But it was really being able to work with IIzuka-san [Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka] and say, 'You're not making [a] Sonic the Hedgehog game, you're making a Pico Park game, and we need to have Sonic inside of there to be like Sonic, but also be a Pico Park experience, so go out there and make a really great fun character, make a fun game, and use Sonic to have that great experience.'"
Sonic Pico Park is slated to release this year. In the same interview, Shimazu confirmed that players "don't need to be super hardcore to be at this one."
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