Rumor: Sega Trademark Could Be Teasing New Shadow the Hedgehog Project

A recent Sega trademark has fans speculating about a potential remake of the 2005 3D platformer Shadow the Hedgehog, or potentially a new game featuring The Ultimate Lifeform as the protagonist. Sega is in quite a good spot at the moment, as it just launched its new kart-racer Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, which features characters from all over pop culture like SpongeBob, Mega Man, Hatsune Miku, and even Ichiban Kasuga from the Yakuza franchise. Speaking of, Sega’s 2026 is set to start off with a bang with Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties due out in February.

Shadow the Hedgehog had his beginnings as the antagonist of Sonic Adventure 2 back in 2001, and later served as the protagonist of his own self-titled PlayStation 2 video game in 2005. Recently, the fan-favorite Sonic antihero has been having somewhat of a resurgence, as he was brought to the silver screen with the help of Hollywood megastar Keanu Reeves in last year’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie. 2024 also saw the release of Sonic X Shadow Generations, which bundled a Sonic Generations remaster with the all-new Shadow Generations game.

Sega Files New Trademark for 'Shadow the Hedgehog,' Prompting Speculation

Sega seems ready to go all-in on Shadow, as a new trademark has been filed for a “Shadow the Hedgehog” project. This was discovered by Sonic news account Sonic City on Twitter, which notes that the trademark not only covers video games, but other types of Shadow-branded merchandise like toys, clothes, and accessories as well. The news has naturally led many Sonic and Shadow fans to speculate about a possible port, remake, or remaster of the 2005 Shadow the Hedgehog game, which remains exclusively available for sixth-generation consoles to this day.

If a new Shadow project is indeed in the pipeline at Sega and this trademark move isn’t simply brand maintenance, it would almost certainly mean one of two things: either a revival of the 2005 Shadow the Hedgehog title, or an all-new Shadow game. However, Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka mentioned earlier this year that the studio isn’t keen on remaking 3D Sonic games and would much rather create new ones instead. If this trademark does lead to a brand-new Shadow game, it’ll be fascinating to see whether it’s a 2D or 3D title, and whether it will follow in the footsteps of or even be connected to 2022’s Sonic Frontiers, which ushered in a slightly darker, more serious tone, setting, and atmosphere to the world of 3D Sonic.

Whenever a trademark like this is revealed to the public, it typically takes around a year for the related game announcement to occur. With that in mind and Sonic’s 35th anniversary coming in 2026, fans may learn exactly what fruit this Shadow the Hedgehog trademark will bear sometime next year.