In case you missed it, SXSW (South by Southwest, a large annual media festival in Austin, Texas) has been canceled this year for the first time since its 1987 debut due to coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns.

The entire situation has been extremely stressful for everyone involved, as the event was scheduled to kick off this very week, and just six days ago the event leadership was announcing new keynote speakers. Alas, the city of Austin itself canceled the event amid a state of emergency for the city. So what does this have to do with games? Well, Sega was scheduled to hold their annual Sonic the Hedgehog panel there, where a new game reveal was expected.

Like everyone else Sega had to pivot, but it looks like they figured out their plan of attack. Over on Twitter, the official Sonic account tweeted out: “We’re sad to see SXSW cancel, but we respect the call and we’re working hard to bring our Sonic Panel content to you all in a new format this April!” That “new format” could be their Sonic Station Live broadcast, which just debuted last month.

Either way, expect new big Sonic news in April! I wonder if we’ll ever get a movie tie-in game.

Sonic the Hedgehog [Twitter]

Sega pivots Sonic reveal event after SXSW cancellation screenshot

Source: Destructoid Sega pivots Sonic reveal event after SXSW cancellation