March 24^th, 2005 (2:14pm) - Today, SEGA officially announced Shadow The Hedgehog, an exciting new spin-off from SEGA’s best-selling Sonic The Hedgehog series. The title is currently in development at SEGA Studio USA, under the direction of Takashi Iizuka, lead developer of Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2/ Battle, and Sonic Heroes.

Shadow The Hedgehog allows players to collect an arsenal of weapons, vehicles, and objects to rocket through more than 50 unique missions. In his feature debut, Shadow is tormented by a dark past, struggling to discover his true identity. He is caught in a complex battle between aliens, the G.U.N. army, and Dr. Eggman, and discovers that he may be the very element that will tip the scales between good and evil forever.

"Since we first introduced him in Sonic Adventure 2, we have wanted to feature Shadow in his own game," said Takashi Iizuka, Game Director, SEGA Studio USA. "We maintained Shadow as a mysterious character and now fans can control his destiny by engaging in a unique gameplay experience that offers a multitude of possibilities!"

"The Sonic franchise has sold more than 38-million units worldwide and SEGA plans to support this new brand with a complimentary lineup of new Sonic products across all platforms in 2005," said Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President of Marketing, SEGA of America, Inc. "We expect Shadow The Hedgehog to be a cornerstone title in this strategy as well as a new and dynamic brand for SEGA."

Is he an android created by Dr. Eggman? Is he the original Shadow simply suffering from amnesia? Or is there an even more sinister explanation? Now, gamers will decide in a race against time by choosing between any number of routes by which to unveil the secrets of his past. Multiple endings will reflect critical decisions at every stage of the game. Gamers have ultimate control over Shadow’s past, with the potential to rewrite his history time and time again.

SEGA plans to release Shadow The Hedgehog on all current generation console platforms in Winter 2005.