According to a new report by Eurogamer, fans are missing a Mario & Sonic tie-in game for the 2024 Olympics after the International Olympics Committee ended its partnership with Nintendo and Sega.
Eurogamer reported that series veteran Lee Cocker directly reached out to them. Cocker claims that the IOC “wanted to look at other partners and NFTs and esports.”
They added that the IOC aimed to bring it “back to themselves internally and look at other partners so they would get more money.” The new report says the IOC simply allowed the licensing deal with Nintendo and Sega to “lapse in 2020.”
Mario & Sonic are a staple of the Olympic Games, as the series released tie-in titles for well over a decade.
The most recent game celebrated the Tokyo 2020 games, which included both new and classic sports. It did launch to mixed reviews, and still has a 6.9 user score on Metacritic. However, it was a kind of tradition, and many fans are disappointed by 2024’s departure.
Last week, the IOC officially announced that eSports has become part of the Olympics, though it will exclude first-person shooters.
Super Mario fans can still look forward to Mario & Luigi Brothership, coming in November 2024, and Super Mario Party Jamboree in October.
Most recently, Sonic fans learned that Sonic the Hedgehog veteran Takashi Iizuka showed interest in developing an RPG for the franchise.
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It would be great if we had a proper crossover game or like the old Spyro/Crash crossover where they went to each other’s worlds. I trust Nintendo to make a Sonic game but not SEGA to make a Mario game.