Sonic Was The 3rd Best Performing License In The UK Last Month!

The Sonic franchise has branched off from video gaming into all sorts of media now. There's merchandise, live-action movies, TV cartoons, Netflix series, animated movies, and much more. Add on to the fact that Sonic the Hedgehog is very well known, and it's not all that surprising that it was the third best performing license in the UK for the month of January!

The data comes from Circana Group and relayed to Twitter via Dave Luty, and it is based on United Kingdom sales as of January 2024 by comparing it to the sales from exactly a year before, back in January 2023. Hence, the whole "year-to-date" thing. It is a very common thing used in tracking sales in general, and not just for the video gaming industry. It's a great way to figure out any trends occurring, and for a company to see if any adjustments they've made in the past are paying off.

Still, it is worth noting that Sonic isn't in the top spot. That honor goes to Star Wars, which did so well that the runner-up, Gabby's Dollhouse, could only make half of what Star Wars managed to do. In fact, Gabby's Dollhouse was much closer to Sonic than Star Wars. On the other hand though, chilidogs were nearly overtaken by pizza as Sonic was just a pinch away from switching spots with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

So, what drove the sales for Sonic then? The simple answer is merchandise. Almost 90% of Sonic sales in January 2024 were due to merchandise. 49% of it was building sets such as LEGO, and another 40% of it was action figures. It probably doesn't need to be said, but there's a reason why Sonic merchandise is constantly being made and there's so much of it. Sonic merch sells, and it sells a lot.

So, will Sonic continue to see success like this? It's hard to say. Sonic merchandise is very successful, but you can't rely on that alone. After all, Sonic the Hedgehog is, at heart, still a video gaming franchise. And, well, SEGA needs money too. There is Sonic X Shadow Generations coming out this fall. But whether that will help push Sonic onto these charts again is something that remains to be seen. And it's very possible that other franchies, including ones much bigger than Sonic, could make its appearance later this year. Time will tell. Nevertheless, it's always great to see the Blue Blur seeing this success.

Via Twitter