Sonic Team is a computer and video game developer established in 1988 originally known as Sega AM8. In 1991, AM8 took their name from their phenomenally successful Sonic the Hedgehog series and became Sonic Team. They are one of Sega's most popular creative teams. Sonic Team was headed by the famed video game designer, producer, and visionary Yuji Naka. Under his leadership Sonic Team has become a creative powerhouse in the video game industry creating some of the most popular games ever made before Sonic Adventure 2. The joint creator of Sonic, Naoto Oshima, left Sonic Team to form his own studio, Artoon. Recently on May 8, 2006, Naka left the group with ten other members of Sonic Team to establish an independent game developer, PROPE.
Sonic Team has also worked on a television series adaptation of one of their most popular games they've developed and the basis of the name for the development team, Sonic.
In 2003, United Game Artists (formerly Sega AM9) merged with Sonic Team. In 2004, Sonic Team once more became an internal division of Sega after being spun off as a second-party developer in 2000. Unlike most of the other divisions, Sonic Team still retains its internal structure and name. Sonic Team is today headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan.
Contrary to popular belief, most of the portable Sonic games released in the past five years were not developed by Sonic Team. Sonic Advance and its two sequels were developed by Dimps, who also developed Sonic Rush and Sonic Battle, and Sonic Rivals was developed by Backbone Entertainment.