BioWare makes Sonic boom

Today, Sega's push to ally with Western developers took an unexpected left turn. That's when the Japanese publisher announced a new role-playing game starring its iconic blue hedgehog, Sonic.

Although the notion of a new Sonic game isn't surprising, Sega caused more than a few morning latte spit-takes when it named its developer. The title is being worked on at Canadian powerhouse BioWare, acclaimed maker of such RPGs as Baldur's Gate, Jade Empire, and the forthcoming Mass Effect. The still-untitled game is due out sometime next year.

Today's announcement also identified one of BioWare's mystery projects. Last September, the developer announced it was working on a DS title, its first for Nintendo's handheld. The company has at least two other untitled games in development, one of which is a massively multiplayer online role-playing offering from its Austin studio.

The Sonic RPG will be the second role-playing game Sega has commissioned from a US developer in the past six months. In December 2006, the publisher announced a deal with Obsidian Entertainment to make an RPG based on the Aliens film franchise. Coincidentally (or not), the two titles Obsidian has developed since it was founded in 2003 have been sequels to BioWare games Neverwinter Nights and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.