(Update) One of Sonic’s most iconic voice actors will no longer be voicing the character

Broken blue heart

[Update: Roger Craig Smith isn’t leaving the role after all! After months of waiting, the actor seemingly worked out a deal to stay on.]

Odds are you’ve heard Roger Craig Smith speak before.

Perhaps as Chris Redfield in modern Resident Evil games? Or in cartoons like Regular Show, as a host of different characters. He’s even been the voice of Batman several times! But many ardent fans will always think of him as the main voice of Sonic following Jaleel White’s turn in the role: until today, that is.

Shared on Twitter by the man himself, Smith had the following to say today: “Welp, 10 years was an amazing run. Onward to new zones! Much love to the fans who’ve been so kind. It’s been an honor.”

Fans are speculating that the parting was not mutual, using the broken blue [Sonic] heart in the tweet as evidence. While it’s hard to say what went down; it’s possible that Smith has become busy as he has no shortage of work, and offered the broken heart as a message to his fans. Or, Sega wants to offer the role to Mr. “Jean-Ralphio” himself, Ben Schwartz, who played the character in the feature film: or go a different direction entirely.

Schwartz would be a shrewd pick, as he has a history of voicing cartoons, so he’d slot into any sort of cross-media project Sega might have planned. Either way, Smith was a fantastic Sonic and was mostly beloved by fans (myself included), so I’m sad to see him go. We’ll likely see the next stage of Sonic whenever Sega decides to unveil the new projects they’ve been teasing for forever.

Roger Craig Smith [Twitter]