Sonic is celebrating 35 years this week, and as part of this, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has received a new update.
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As already highlighted, this adds “Classic Sonic” and his machine Mach Cyclone. Along with this, are anniversary music tracks, new gadgets, balance adjustments and bug fixes. Sega has also announced a “World Championship Qualifier”, which is detailed at the bottom of this page.
Here are the full patch notes for the latest Sonic Racing update (via Sega.com), bumping the title up to Version 1.4.1 on the Switch and Switch 2.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds – Version 1.4.1 Patch Notes (23rd June 2026)
Update Overview
This update celebrates Sonic’s 35th Anniversary!
We’ve added Classic Sonic and his machine Mach Cyclone, as well as special 35th Anniversary music tracks. We’ve also added new Gadgets, made balance adjustments to races, and fixed various bugs.
The World Championship Qualifier (Legend Competition Round 6) has also been announced!
We hope you continue to enjoy the ever-expanding excitement of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds!
Sonic 35th Anniversary Content
- Added Classic Sonic as a playable character
- Added Mach Cyclone as a selectable machine
- Added Sonic 35th Anniversary music tracks
- Added new songs by three artists in celebration of the 35th anniversary
Collaboration Decals
- Added 15 collaboration decals with famous brands
World Match/Legend Competition
- Added “Donpa Ticket Chance,” which has a set chance of occurring
New Gadgets
- Added 8 new Gadgets that expand existing strategies
Competitive Balance Adjustments
- Made adjustments to Gadgets and races
Other Additions/Adjustments
- Added voice support for Chinese (Mandarin)
- Character Friendship is now unlocked by default
- Changed the CPU icon to a standard robot mark during online play
- Added support for the DualSense™ Wireless Controller on PC (Steam/Epic)
- Added a SEGA Account linking feature
- Updated staff credits
- Fixed a variety of other issues, as well as updated data for upcoming live content and the World Championship
To commemorate this milestone, we have added Classic Sonic and his machine Mach Cyclone.
Popular tracks from Sonic Mania and Sonic Superstars have also been added:
- Studiopolis Zone Act 2 (Tee Lopes: Sonic Mania)
- Mirage Saloon Act 1 (Tee Lopes: Sonic Mania)
- Hard Boiled Heavy Boss (Tee Lopes: Sonic Mania)
- Opening Theme (Jun Senoue & Tee Lopes: Sonic Superstars)
- Bridge Island Zone Act 2 (Tee Lopes & Jun Senoue: Sonic Superstars)
- Special Stage (Tee Lopes: Sonic Superstars)
In addition, we’ve added songs by three artists commemorating the 35th anniversary to the Jukebox.
- Speed Is My Life (Jun Senoue & Nathan Sharp)
- Here We Go ~ Run to the Future（Yousa·Ling）
- ONSOKU WO KOETE（Yunosuke）
A collaboration sticker featuring Yousa, who performed “Here We Go ~ Run to the Future,” is also available.
The Sonic 35th Anniversary website is available here:
https://www.sega.com/sonic-the-hedgehog?tab=35th-anniversary
The Sonic 35th Anniversary Festival is scheduled to begin on Friday, June 25 at 8:00 PM (ET)! Join the fun and help celebrate the Blue Blur’s birthday!
Collaboration Decals
Added collaboration decals.
Can be used in “Customize Machine”.
World Match/Legend Competition
“Donpa Ticket Chance” will now have a chance of occurring in World Match and Legend Competition. If you meet the conditions during a race where the Donpa Ticket Chance is active, you’ll receive an increased number of Donpa Tickets after the race.**
Added 8 new Gadgets.
These can be obtained once your Gadget Plate reaches Gold Plate or higher.
- Technique Enhancement
- Ultimate Air Trick
- Perfect Landing
- Support
- Substitute Item
- Invincible Finish
- Status Enhancement
- Collision Evolution
- Ring Evolution
- Damage Evolution
- Item Hit Evolution
The following Gadgets, previously distributed as Festival rewards, can now be purchased*** with Donpa Tickets from the Customize Gadgets screen.
- Character Type Kit
- Speed Vehicle Kit
- Advanced Kit
- Item Buster Kit
- Drift Spinner Kit
- Panel Combo Kit
***These can be purchased once your Gadget Plate reaches Master Plate or higher.
Competitive Balance Adjustments
With Ver. 1.4.1, we’re aiming to expand tactical variety through Gadget customization.
We’ve added new Gadgets that expand customization options for the Air Trick, Collision, Item Hit, and Recovery builds, which had been underpowered compared to other Gadgets.
We have also reviewed and adjusted the effects of certain support Gadgets that were difficult to use and aded new support Gadgets as well. Our aim is to increase the range of options available to handle a wider variety of situations.
In addition, we’ve strengthened existing status-enhancement Gadgets overall to match the power level of the newly added Evolution Gadgets and Hyper Ring Engine.
Regarding Ring Engine, we’ve addressed an issue where starting position created slight advantages and disadvantages, while also adjusting the combined effect of equipping the two types of Ring Engines to prevent it from becoming too strong.
We will continue to make balance adjustments based on Gadget usage and win rates.
Adjustment to Number of Rings at Start of Races
In all modes except Time Trial, the number of rings held at the start of a race has been standardized to 20. Up until Ver. 1.3, the number of rings at the start was adjusted based on starting position to mitigate advantages/disadvantages.
However, for certain Ring-related Gadgets, such as Ring Engine and Low-Ring Speed Up, differences in starting ring counts affected how easily their effects could be triggered, which in some cases created advantages or disadvantages depending on starting position.
We believe that in the current competitive environment, the impact of starting position has been reduced compared to before. Therefore, to ensure all racers begin under the same conditions regardless of starting position, the starting ring count has been set to 20 for everyone. There are no changes to Time Trial mode.
Festival Adjustments
We have adjusted item balance so that powerful items, such as King Boom Boo, are more likely to appear based on the distance between racers. In addition, we have lifted the ban on Ring Engine and Hyper Ring Engine, which had previously been prohibited in Festivals.
In Ver. 1.3, differences in player skill and squad composition tended to result in larger gaps in match outcomes. In particular, Ring Engine and Hyper Ring Engine worked exceptionally well with the Super Team Dash’s invincibility effect and the team battle rule that prevents damage from teammates, allowing them to perform better than in other modes, such as World Match.
For this reason, their use had been restricted in Festivals, but based on the latest adjustments, we have decided to lift these restrictions.
We will continue to monitor and adjust balance in Festivals going forward.
Gadget Adjustments
- Hyper Ring Engine
Fixed an issue where equipping only Hyper Ring Engine did not increase top speed. It will now properly increase top speed by 4 km/h.
- Ring Engine + Hyper Ring Engine
The effects of combining the two Ring Engines have been adjusted as follows:
- The top speed increase has been changed from +11 km/h to +9 km/h.
- Fixed an issue where parameters were increasing excessively when Ring count was low.
We believe that combining the two Ring Engine Gadgets should offer performance that justifies the drawback of losing Rings every 0.5 seconds. However, in Version 1.3, this combination was performing better than intended, so we have reduced its effectiveness in this update.
Note: These changes will not be applied in Time Trial mode in consideration of their impact on World Rankings.
- Crash Pads
The required slot cost has been reduced from 2 to 1.
Due to its relatively low win rate and limited standalone impact on race outcomes, this adjustment makes it easier to incorporate into a wider variety of builds.
- Item Keeper
The Gadget effect will now activate against attacks from Dark Chao. When hit by Dark Chao, only empty item slots will be selected to reroll.
With this update, equipping this Gadget will prevent item loss caused by the red Warp Ring.
Note: This effect does not apply to forced item changes caused by Boost Frenzy.
- Spin Drift/Drift Spinner Kit
The knockback effect against opponents has been strengthened.
This enhancement is especially noticeable when used while your Power stat is low.
- Perfect Charge Boost
The duration of the speed boost triggered by a successful Perfect Charge has been slightly extended.
- Friction Drift
Fixed an issue where slight deceleration could occur even when not drifting.
- Quick Starter/Slow Starter
Increased the boost to all parameters from +10 to +20.
- Super Quick Starter/Super Slow Starter
Increased the boost to all parameters from +20 to +60.
- Tuner Gadgets
For all Tuner-type Gadgets, the parameter increases have been doubled:
When machine type does not match: +4 to +8
When machine type matches: +10 to +20
Note: There are no changes to parameter reductions.
- Machine Kits
For all Machine Kits, parameter changes when the machine type matches have been adjusted. Previously, type matching applied both an increase (+20) and a decrease (-16). Going forward, only the increase (+20) will apply.
- Ace Pilot Kit
When in Plane form, the increase to all parameters has been changed from +10 to +20.
- Sea Dog Kit
When in Boat form, the increase to all parameters has been changed from +10 to +20.
- Panel Combo Kit
The increases to Power and Handling have been raised from +4 to +8.
Additional Voice Support
Added voice support for Chinese (Mandarin).
Character Friendship Unlocked by Default
Players can now access Character Friendship without having completed the Grand Prix.
CPU Platform Icons in Online Play
In Legend Competition, CPU opponents not subject to rating calculations were displayed with the same platform icon as players, which could affect gameplay. As a result, in all online modes, the platform icon for CPU opponents has been changed to a robot icon.
Additional Supported Devices for PC Version
Added support for the DualSense™ Wireless Controller on PC (Steam/Epic).
Note: If multiple controllers are being used, issues such as vibration not functioning may occur. If this happens, please wait a short time and reconnect the controllers one by one. If the issue persists, please repeat the same steps.
SEGA Account Linking Feature
If your platform account is linked to a SEGA Account, the message “SEGA Account Linked” will now be displayed in the lower-left corner of the Extras Screen.
Note: This will only be displayed while connected online.
Updated Staff Credits
Staff credits have been updated with the latest information.
Live Operations Data Additions/Data Updates for Future World Tournaments
Updated data in preparation for upcoming live operations.
Bug Fixes
Courses
- Fixed an issue on the Wily Castle course where firing items such as Rocket Puch toward a jump ramp could cause the projectile to travel horizontally instead of launching upward from the ramp.
Race Park
- Fixed an issue in Custom Match where, when the Items setting was set to Extreme, CPU characters would obtain items not appropriate for the setting.
Festival
- Fixed an issue in certain Frenzy events where entering a Travel Ring marked with “?” would fail to trigger Frenzy Time.
- Fixed an issue where, when a team consisting only of CPU players was generated, a player would not be assigned to the third team.
- Fixed an issue where, when the Autoselect Rental Plate option was set to OFF, the transition animation when race rules changed would not play correctly.
Text Display
- Fixed an issue in certain languages where the Gadget Speed Character Kit was incorrectly displayed as Speed Character Kit 2. There is no change to the Gadget’s effect.
- Corrected the Simplified Chinese translation for Tangle & Whisper to an appropriate translation.
Additional minor gameplay issues have also been fixed.
We will continue to make improvements based on community feedback to ensure that all players can compete in a fair and enjoyable environment.
Thank you for playing Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds!
Sega is also hosting a “World Championship 2026” event, where racers from around the world can compete against each other. Online qualifiers start on 30th June 2026 and run until 19th July 2026, which then lead to the finals in New York City on 9th October 2026. You can find out more and register via Sega’s website.
“The Top 24 racers will have the chance to compete live in front of a global viewing audience for first place. Throughout the Qualifiers, fans will also be able to earn Twitch Drop rewards for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds by watching participating streamers on Twitch!”
