RUMOR: Mario and Sonic Olympics series may be finished (UPDATE)
The Crossover Concludes?
A recent Reddit post has pointed out the above Twitter/X Post from Lee Cocker, who worked with the Olympic Committee on the games’ various video game tie-ins, most notably the Mario and Sonic series.
In the post, Cocker makes the bold claim that there won’t be a Mario and Sonic at the Paris 2024 Olympic games as the series actually ended with Tokyo 2020. A quick perusal of Cocker’s personal website, as well as his own tweets, reveals that he was involved in the release of every Mario and Sonic title to date. If anyone would know if a new game is in the works or not, it seems safe to assume it’d be him.
Of course, there is always the distinct possibility that the game hasn’t been announced yet and Cocker was just not in the know so take this, like all rumors, with a grain of salt. However, given the fact that the Olympics are currently underway and no announcement has been made by either Nintendo or SEGA (The games typically released before the actual games began) it certainly seems possible that it might be the end for one of gaming’s strangest crossovers.
As always, we’ll keep you posted on any updates on the series’ future, positive or negative.
UPDATE: Lee Cocker has now shed some more light on the situation. Speaking with Eurogamer, he explains that the International Olympics Committee are the ones who chose to terminate their partnership with Nintendo to produce more Mario and Sonic Olympic games. According to Cocker, their decision had to do with a pivot to NFTs and esports. Read his full statement below:
“They wanted to look at other partners and NFTs and esports. Basically the IOC wanted to bring [it] back to themselves internally and look at other partners so they would get more money.”
The Olympics has indeed branched out into the world of NFTs, so it seems likely that there’s some truth to this statement. Whether or not this shift to NFTs and esports over traditional video games will work out for the Olympics Committee is another story. Maybe if things don’t go as planned, there’s a chance for Mario and Sonic to return to their rightful place as Olympic competitors in the future…
About jmaldonado
A recently graduated creative writer hoping to work his way into the greater gaming sphere.
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martynstuff
I heard they ended the series after it was discovered Mario was on mushrooms the whole time while Sonic was addicted to speed. The less said about Waluigi, the better.
martynstuff
8d agoI heard they ended the series after it was discovered Mario was on mushrooms the whole time while Sonic was addicted to speed. The less said about Waluigi, the better.
tmc1983
7d agoI played a demo of one of the DS entries and that was enough.
conangiga
7d ago"Basically the IOC wanted to bring [it] back to themselves internally and look at other partners so they would get more money.”
I'm sure this will work out GREAT.
hawk
7d agoThere are some sports games where not even Mario can get me to try it. So I've never played this series. I'd like to hope that we can have some Mario-Sonic crossovers in the future that are more consequential than a collection of sports minigames.
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