Sonic Dream Team major update brings Sweet Dreams Zone and more
The update comes after big layoffs at Sega Hardlight
- Sonic Dream Team's upcoming major update brings a whole new zone and more
- But it comes at a tough time for mobile studio Sega Hardlight
- Is there an issue at play with Apple Arcade and the exposure it gives games?
While it may've escaped our notice before, Sonic Dream Team, the top game from Sega Hardlight for Apple Arcade, is set to get a major update. In the monthly Apple Arcade update, Sonic Dream Team will get a new area called the Sweet Dreams Zone with 'extra challenging stages' created specifically by designer Ariem.
The new update adds not only 8 new boss missions and the Sweet Dreams Zone, but also an overhaul of many existing boss-fights to add new moves and more. Finally, there's the addition of the long-awaited rankings system, meaning you can measure up your times against other players from across the world.
Sounds good, no? But this also comes during hard times for Sega Hardlight, the deam behind the game. Earlier this month Sega sacked numerous employees from across their studios, including from this mobile-focused team, raising questions as to just how well Sonic Dream Team is doing if they're seen as expendable...
Not a Sonic hero
While we often vaguely allude to it, the current situation with Sonic Dream Team is perhaps the biggest evidence towards our occasional misgivings about Apple Arcade. There's nothing wrong with the service, or the games on offer...quite the opposite actually, the games are fantastic. But that's also one of the key problems, the games are fantastic, but are enough people playing them?
Sonic Dream Team has received good reviews from many players, in contrast to the usually divisive nature of our favourite Hedgehog's outings. But it's only available to Apple Arcade subscribers, and sadly we've seen other great games like Slash Quest ended up exiting the service, before releasing on other platforms.
Ultimately it does raise a question, is Apple Arcade big enough to offer enough exposure to games like Sonic Dream Team? And if not, what chance to great games on the service have if they can't find a bigger audience than just the Apple Arcade subscribers, barring changes down the line that is? Or, if Arcade is big enough, then why're teams being culled?
It's all somewhat worrying...but at the very least you'll be able to enjoy the new update when it drops April 18th.
