The revival attempt is currently in closed alpha, but it's looking like Sonic Runners may yet get a new lease on life. Runners is an official Sonic Team game that's no longer playable today. This is good news for fans who liked the game if it pans out. Click to get all the details!
Update(3/29/19): Shortly after this report it looked like Sega was going to shut down this project due to it originally having microtransactions which they obviously don't want others to profit off of. However, thanks to a Sega employee who took notice of the project and brought it up with their superiors, it's been confirmed that the team's efforts are A-OK as long as they include no microtransactions and don't claim to own any assets. The plan is to rework the game to make red rings easier to obtain and to lower the cost of things that cost red rings so there will still be some unlocking and progression but no need to purchase microtransactions.
A little backstory: YouTuber PatMac recently put out an massive video giving the history of Sonic Runners:
For those too impatient to watch the whole video, Runners was a mobile endless runner created by Sonic Team with some good graphics, a wonderful Tomoya Ohtani soundtrack, and included a large amount of fanservice. The game's cast consisted of many playable characters and even “Buddies” that you could take along on with you on your runs. These “buddies” would give you special boosts and skills. You could bring characters like Chip, Chaos 0, Opa-Opa, a Sega Genesis. Even the Death Egg could float behind you.
Unfortunately, it was incredibly difficult to unlock many of these characters with its mobile F2P monetization. The game ultimately was deemed a failure by Sega and shut down just one year after its official launch. The game was an “always online” game so it is now completely unplayable. A sequel (Sonic Runners Adventure) was later released by Gameloft from the remains of Runners as a paid mobile game, but it was significantly smaller with inferior visuals and music..
Luckily, it seems the renewed interest in Runners caused by PatMac's video has had an effect. The surge of support for Runners after PatMac's retrospective has led to a second effort to bring the game back. While there may be new content added in the future, the focus is on getting the game working and making it easier to unlock characters.
This is amazing!!! A few of us are currently in beta testing runners out and Its truly amazing!! Thank you to Everyone so much!! Huge Shoutout to YPwn (The creator of RunRun((The fan server for runners) And PatMac, The person who inspired me to try and bring the love back) :DD pic.twitter.com/SCKJm1AOTG
— Sonic Runners Revival Project (@RevivalSonic) March 21, 2019
Did anyone have time with the game? Let us know if you're excited or had no idea about this game in the forum!