Sonic Team
By 2010, had become Sonic Team CS Research and Development No. 2 (CS2), Sega Studios USA had been reintegrated into the Japanese team, and Iizuka had become the head of the department. After a series of poorly received "Sonic" releases, Sonic Team refocused on speed and more traditional side-scrolling in ' and ', "Sonic Generations", and "Sonic Colors", which all received better reviews. In 2015, Iizuka recognized in an interview with "Polygon" that Sonic Team had prioritized shipping games over quality, and had not had enough involvement in later third-party "Sonic" games, such as "". He hoped the Sonic Team logo would stand as a "mark of quality"; he planned to release quality games and expand the "Sonic" brand, while retaining the modern Sonic design. Sonic Team's first "Sonic" game exclusive to smartphones, "Sonic Runners", was released in 2015. An endless runner, it was designed to have more replay value than other games in the genre. "Sonic Runners" received mixed reviews and was unprofitable, resulting in its discontinuation a year later.