Machina posted 27/02/2020, 11:10
This new figure is incomplete, but is the best I can piece together (see discussion below for why this has been so difficult in Sonic's case). Think of it as an absolute minimum for the Sonic platformers.

It consists of:

- 70 million for the series up to March 31st 2011 ( https://web.archive.org/web/20190827160409/https://www.segasammy.co.jp/english/ir/library/pdf/printing_annual/2011/ssh_ar11e_all_final_1021.pdf ).

- 100,000 min. each for Sonic 2, CD, 4 Ep. I, Ep. II, on Android ( https://web.archive.org/web/20171116184917/play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sega.sonic2 ).

- 500,000 min. for Sonic 1 on Android ( https://web.archive.org/web/20170429014358/play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sega.sonic1 ).

- 107,991 for Sonic Adventure 2 on XBLA ( https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RyanLangley/20130211/186346/Xbox_Live_Arcade_By_The_Numbers__An_extensive_look_back_at_2012.php ).

- 1.85 million for Sonic Generations ( https://www.segasammy.co.jp/english/pdf/release/201503_4q_tanshinhosoku_e_final_.pdf ).

- 710,000 for Sonic Lost World ( https://www.segasammy.co.jp/english/pdf/release/2014_4q_presentation_e_final.pdf ).

- 620,000 for Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric & Shattered Crystal combined ( https://www.segasammy.co.jp/english/pdf/release/201503_4q_tanshinhosoku_e_final_.pdf ).

- 1 million for Sonic Mania ( https://www.vgchartz.com/article/276048/sonic-mania-tops-1-million-units-sold-worldwide/ ).

- 1.45 million combined Steam figure that we know of for Sonic games released after March 31st 2011.

Couldn't find any figures for:
- Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice
- Sonic Forces

Have intentionally not counted the racing releases or Mario & Sonic at the Olympics, which we'll list separately.
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Machina posted 27/02/2020, 10:20
Hmm, yes, @Salnax seems to be right.

It isn't until 2018 that Sega actually admits to including free downloads in the overall total. But there's a large jump from 70 million in the 2011 financial report to 150 million in the 2014 one (the ones in between don't specify a figure, as far as I can see), which can only really be explained by adding in free downloads.

I've removed the total for now - not happy listing a figure that almost certainly has been artificially inflated by F2P figures.
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S.Peelman posted 21/02/2020, 12:58
SEGA cheating with Sonic numbers.
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Salnax posted 08/02/2020, 05:21
For context regarding Sega's newer, more generous numbers that include free downloads, Sonic Dash alone had over 200 million downloads back in 2016.
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Machina posted 08/02/2020, 02:53
Unfortunately 2017 was the last time (to-date) that Sega released true sales firgures for the Sonic series.

Ater that they bundled in free-to-play download totals with actual sales.

To show you just how much of an impact that had on their totals, the Sonic series went from 360 million in 2017 to 800 million in 2018...

This year Sega will no doubt announce that the Sonic series has surpassed 1 billion units. The majority of that total will come from free-to-play downloads.
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