Can anyone explain to me how Sanzaru could simply decide to stop working on a game funded by Sega? If they're being paid to create the game then they need to deliver. Sanzaru also stated this on their Facebook page regarding the delay:
Happy to see Sega investing the time and money to add in the features that we feel will make the best Sonic Boom game to release alongside the popular Cartoon Network series.
This means Sega is spending more money on the project. If this rumor is accurate, I'd imagine Sega is aware of it as well. Given what happened with Colonial Marines, would Sega of America really make the exact same mistake again?
What I do find a bit odd is that Sanzaru's message didn't state "investing the time and money
for us to add in the features". But perhaps I'm reading into things here...
EDIT: Unless this really does imply that Sega wasn't satisfied with the game that Sanzaru delivered, and decided to take all the assets and source code and look for a different studio to finish the game. That way, Sanzaru would be free to move everyone to their VR project, which would explain why nobody is working on the game at the moment. If that's the case, then I guess Sega would have to decide between cutting their losses and canceling the game, or continue to invest and try to find a developer willing to finish/improve the game. They know they can't afford to release another subpar Sonic game. But it seems to me most of the fans wouldn't even be all that upset with the game being canceled.