After 20 years, Sega has found and restored its iconic London Sonic statue

Sega has discovered and restored an iconic Sonic the Hedgehog statue that once stood in central London.

In 1996, SegaWorld London was opened in the London Trocadero at Piccadilly Circus and was Europe’s largest indoor theme park at the time. However, due to low attendance it was closed three years later and taken over by the owners of the venue’s older Funland arcade.

Inside the 110,000 square feet venue stood an iconic Sonic the Hedgehog statue with a rotating globe perched on the mascot’s finger.

The statue was thought to have been lost in the years since. However, in 2019 the statue was discovered underneath a pile of papers and boxes in somebody’s garage.

On Monday, Sega announced it had located and restored the statue, and will be exhibiting it at Gamescom in Germany this week.

“We’re thrilled to announce that the iconic Sonic statue from SEGAWORLD London has been found and restored to its former glory! Don’t miss the chance to see this piece of gaming history at our booth at Gamescom after more than 20 years,” it wrote.

Sega’s community manager Danny Russell revealed that London-based prop and makeup house, 13 Finger FX, had been behind the restoration of the statue.

Sega announced in 2020 that it would sell the majority of its shares in its arcade business, Sega Entertainment division, to Japanese amusement rental business Genda Inc.

The company transfered 85.1% of its shares in the subsidiary due to the significant impact of COVID-19 on its amusement businesses, stating that “despite the recent recovery trend, the situation remains uncertain.”

The pandemic’s impact led to the closure of Sega’s famous Akihabara arcade in September last year. However, Sega itself still manufactures and sells arcade machines.