The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog has been downloaded 1 million times in five days

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog has racked up over 1 million downloads in its first five days.

The official visual novel, which was released on Steam by Sega to mark April Fool’s Day, has proved successful with fans.

According to Sonic social media manager Katie Chrzanowski, who was also the game’s executive producer, the free game has got off to a strong start, with download numbers hitting seven figures in less than a week.

“Over 1 million of you have grabbed The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog and it’s currently the number 61 highest rated game on Steam of all time”, Chrzanowski tweeted. “Absolutely unreal. Thank you all so, so much.”

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog was released for free on Steam on April 1, and is described by Sega as a “point-and-click visual novel” with “fully hand-drawn landscapes and characters”.

“It’s Amy Rose’s birthday, and she’s hosting a murder mystery party on the Mirage Express,” the game’s synopsis reads.

“When Sonic the Hedgehog becomes the game’s victim, everyone is off to get to the bottom of things. However, something feels a bit off – is this really an innocent game or is something more sinister afoot?”

Players create their own character then interrogate well-known faces from the Sonic universe as they attempt to figure out what happened to the Sega mascot.

Last month Sega announced Sonic Origins Plus, an update to Sonic Origins due to release on June 23.

The update adds 12 Game Gear games as well as new features, including the ability to play as Amy Rose in Sonic 1, 2, Sonic CD and Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and the ability to play as Knuckles in Sonic CD.