Earlier this week, Noah N. Copeland announced on Twitter that he is stepping down as director of the upcoming 16-bit fan reimagining of the Sonic Drift Game Gear titles.
The talented creator, who was previously behind the incredible Sonic fangame Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit, revealed that he had been wanting to make the decision for a while, due to a number of different reasons.
This includes having less free time on his hands due to preparing to start a family and the project becoming increasingly less "fun" to work on since SAGE (the Sonic Amateur Games Expo 2023), leading to burnout.
He has announced his intention to work on his own original projects with his own characters moving forward and hopes that people will continue to support the team who are continuing to work on the 16-bit reimagining.
Here's his full statement about the decision:
"Hi all, I don’t know how else to start this than to just say it. I’m stepping down from Sonic Drift 16-bit. I’ve been mulling over whether or not to do this for a while….
I no longer have creative bandwidth to work on the game. Working on it has been increasingly not-fun since SAGE.
My game dev goals since I was a kid are:
#1: make my own Sonic fan game.
#2: make games with my own characters.
I’ve already completed Goal #1 with Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit in 2022. So deving another Sonic game grows much less fulfilling day by day. At first, it was fun, but not anymore and it’s taking a lot of my time. My wife and I are also preparing to start a family, so I have much less time available. I want to move on to Goal #2 instead. Continuing on Drift is giving me burnout.
I’m very proud of all the hard work we have done! It’s so great. The team is likely to continue the project t without me, please support them. But I am drained and spent. I’m sorry if this comes as a surprise or shock. Please look forward to what I have next!"
Since the initial announcement was made, Copeland has been inundated with good luck messages and other signs of support. So much so, the developer has put out another tweet thanking people for their understanding and appreciation.
"Wow... My heart was been warmed with the amount of understanding, respect, and appreciation in response to my recent news. Thank you all for being a positive community! (against all odds, here in "the internet") Honestly, did not expect so much warmth!"
We here at Time Extension wish Copeland the best with whatever is next and likewise, can't wait to see more of Sonic Drift 16-bit in the future.