Sega's decision to take the Sonic franchise in a wild new direction with The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog has paid off immediately.

After turning its iconic platformer into a hand-drawn whodunnit as part of a tongue-in-cheek but also kinda serious April Fools gag, over 1 million people have decided to channel their inner Benoit Blanc to figure out who bumped off their favourite blue Erinaceinae.

Okay, sure, The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog doesn't mark a permanent shift for the series, but the outlandish pivot is a fine example of April Fools' marketing done right, teeing up a project that feels absolutely, brilliantly ludicrous before revealing that, hey, this thing actually exists.

Available on Steam for free, The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog reunite the franchise's colourful cast for a murder mystery part aboard the Mirage Express, but as avid Agatha Christie readers will know, those sort of soirees have a tendency to go off the rails.

Katie Chrzanowsk, the social media manager for Sonic at Sega of America, described the response to the title as "absolutely unreal," and noted that it's currently the #61 highest rated Steam title of all time.

Now, can somebody get Sega on the blower? Because we need to know whether this thing is canon.