Roger Craig Smith, Sonic’s voice actor for the previous 10 years, beggining his career with 2010’s Sonic Free Riders, has confirmed he’ll be stepping down from his role.
His journey as the Blue Hedgehog
Rumours about a voice actor shake up in the Sonic the Hedgehog series began around early 2010, when some sources began to claim that “a new voice for Sonic would be involved in the franchise going forward”. Later it was confirmed by Jason Griffith on his Facebook that he would no longer be voicing Sonic.
Then, in the 15th of July 2010, SEGA officially confirmed that Sonic would begin to be voiced by Roger Craig Smith. His previously best known roles being Chris Redfield in Resident Evil 5 and Ezio Auditore da Firenze in Assassin’s Creed 2.
Fans got to hear his voice as Sonic for the first time in Alton Towers’ Sonic Spinball. An attraction themed after the blue hedgehog for the Alton Towers amusement park. In the park’s resort hotel, there was a Sonic-themed room, featuring some speakers, through which Sonic would talk with his fans, with Roger as Sonic.
Later, Roger would make his game debut as Sonic in 2010’s Sonic Free Riders, and later in Sonic Colours. With his new voice, also came a new tone for the Sonic series, as well as many new iconic moments.
In Roger’s words, when asked by a fan, he stated that “SEGA wanted Sonic to sound older.”
The turning point for many fans, where Roger’s perfomance as Sonic got more beloved, was in the 2014 Sonic Boom cartoon, showing off Roger’s comedic timing, as well as him playing off with the cast for the other characters.
And as time went on, Roger got more time to grow more and more into the character, as seen in games such as 2017’s Sonic Forces and 2019’s Team Sonic Racing.
Roger’s involvement in Disney’s Wreck It Ralph movies in 2012 and 2018 as Sonic also have been noted and praised by fans.
The last time Roger got to voice Sonic in the Sonic crossover for Puyo Puyo Tetris 2.
The Reactions
Support for Roger’s future and gratitude towards his years as Sonic were shown by other voice actors from Sonic games, Sonic Boom writers, as well as SEGA Hardlight.
Fans expressing their gratitude towards Roger
After the news dropped, fans began to express their gratitude towards Roger, and what he has done for the character. A hashtag thanking him on Twitter was raised by fans, with tons of appreciation.
