SEGA expects us to pay $60 for this shit?

It’s all too commonplace in the game industry now for developers to backhand consumers with last second changes to their game, namely with the introduction of cancerous DENUVO DRM either days before launch of literally as a day one update.

SEGA seemingly always find ways of shooting themselves in the foot with the tools of success, namely by following up the success of Sonic Forces by butchering Sonic Superstars, the very simplistic and basic side-scroller / party game that heavily markets its multiplayer modes, it looks like a cheap product designed entirely for the Nintendo Switch handheld and that’s because it most certainly is.

But gripes about lackluster graphics, short development and shallow gameplay aside, if the game itself is enticing to play either alone or with friends with a handful of minigames what’s the harm? Well as it turns out SEGA seemingly want to charge you full price for this abomination.

I wouldn’t have many issues if the price tag actually reflected the content found within the game itself, Sonic Superstars is hardly worth more than $30 given its simplistic and low budget nature.

The game launched on PC via Valve’s Steam Store for the insanely high price of $60, and in an unprecedented move the games Steam store listing had been altered as the game went live to include the utilization of DENUVO Anti-Tamper DRM alongside the hard requirement of an Epic Games account.

Many users feel that SEGA has not been transparent about this arrangement, leading to rightful outrage. Compounding the issue, the Steam version of the game also includes Denuvo DRM, known for potentially impacting game performance. It is worth noting that the inclusion of Denuvo DRM has been a common practice for previous Sonic releases on Steam.

SEGA’s decision to utilize Epic Games’ online servers for crossplay with the console versions of the game has caused frustration among Steam users, with the game standing at a 66% user score with a plethora of negative reviews being made over the incorporation of DENUVO in a title that’s reflective of a cheeky mobile game.

Although the game is listed as playable on the Steam Deck, it has not been officially designated as “Steam Deck Verified.” This lack of verification raises uncertainty about whether Steam Deck owners will have full compatibility and access to play the game.

DENUVO DRM is proven to be abusive towards your PC system, resulting in hampering of gameplay stability and overall in-game frame rates, which is why developers and publishers are now hiding their incorporation of the most invasive form of cancer in the gaming industry until after the game launches.

The implementation of DENUVO DRM as the last second hasn’t stopped or deterred piracy one bit, you’re more than happy to procure yourself a Switch ROM of the game for absolutely free and play through the games story mode without the ability to play online.

Or in the case of SEGA, they are now apparently uploading builds of their games for validation and review processes with the likes of Valve without the implementation of DENUVO DRM, increasing system performance exponentially, especially for lower end systems and hardware such as Valve’s own Steam Deck.

It’s actually rather impressive that SEGA have managed to fuck up a 2D Sonic game to such an extent, but then again seeing as how Sonic 4, Sonic Generations, Sonic Colors Ultimate and Sonic Origins all turned out it’s fairly safe to say that the Sonic Team are hopelessly incompetent, Sonic Mania was seemingly the last hurrah for the franchise, and that was done by a separate team entirely.

SEGA demanding $60 for a AA video game, with the hard requirement of an Epic Games account to access the online portion of which was a main marketing point, combined with the last second DENUVO implementation, it’s no wonder why many people in droves are refunding their purchases on Steam.

This is just more slop to sell to the hopeless fanatics of the Sonic Franchise.