Sonic Forces China Agreement Suggests In-Game DLC

For the first time, a Sonic game will be properly translated and officially released to gamers in China, thanks to a new agreement reached between Sega and Shanghai Oriental Pearl Media, a large Shanghai-based media company.

Tech giant Sohu made the announcement through their website today, but what most in the community noticed are three letters in plain English amid it all: DLC.

TSSZ obtained a proper translation of the website announcement through one of our followers on Twitter, mangomer102. It reads in part:

“It is confirmed that we (上海东方明珠媒体股份有限公司) will produce Sonic Forces Chinese Version within our country and future DLC.”

That, in of itself, appears to confirm DLC for Sonic Forces. But these small nuances in language–especially when the primary source material is in another language–are very often challenged and scrutinized. In speaking with our tipster/translator, we noted that while the website announcement spoke of DLC, the official post cited in the article made no mention of it. And while, contractually, it’s important to cover all the bases, that does not in of itself spell out a release timetable for DLC–or if there will be DLC to localize at all. Contractually, at least, the agreement will afford Shanghai Oriental Pearl to localize DLC if it’s produced.

For that reason, we’ve officially backed off the idea of an outright confirmation of DLC from this release, though it absolutely suggests the prospect, if not strongly so. Given the options already seen for custom characters in Sonic Forces, future content seems almost inevitable, if not essential to maintain the next Sonic’s major gimmick. It will be up to Sega to flesh it out officially on their terms.

Thanks again to mangomer102 who tipped us on Twitter and helped out with a translation.