Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-29414935-20171109175854/@comment-1031724-20171219215642

Eggman has a history of surviving the destruction of his mechs. Usually the Eggmobile is the only part left, and for the bigger ones, when they did blow up in a bigger explosion, there was always an opening for him and Eggman Nega to eject. He was probably presumed dead after Sonic & Knuckles yet he continued to appear there.

However, he didn't escape the explosion of Time Eater, but that just trapped him in limbo, where presumably a portal eventually appeared and he got out (they never explained how he returned for Sonic Lost World).

...That said, the Eggmobile did not seem to be part of the cockpit of his Death Egg Robot, which he thought was invincible coz of the Phantom Ruby. Sonic, Classic Sonic, and the Avatar smashed through the cockpit, we see it blow up without seeing anything other than flames go flying from the cockpit, and afterwards, it's like "the endless battle has finally ended", and Eggman is defeated for good. I get the feeling this game was made to "conclude" the series, seeing as how it really seemed like the end this time, so, my guess is, he's dead.

However, this does not mean he won't appear in any future games. Fans love the 2D sidescrolling games like Sonic Mania more, so chances are any future games set in the original continuity will be sidescrollers set before Sonic Adventure most likely. Or, if they want to go for the modern appearances and have the new characters in it, before Sonic Unleashed, it kicked off the 3D games leading to the "ending" (Unleashed, Colors, Generations, Lost World, Forces). Or, they'll just do ones set in Sonic Boom.

That also doesn't mean there isn't a slight possibility they'll make a sequel and say he survived.