Yuji Naka Square Enix

Sonic Co-Creator Yuji Naka Arrested for Square Enix Inside Trading

The Special Investigation Department of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office arrested Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka as part of an insider trading scandal involving his former employer, Square Enix. Naka is one of three individuals that have been arrested as part of the scandal, which involved purchasing shares in Developer Aiming leading up to its release of Dragon Quest Tact. [Thanks, FNN Prime Online!]

Recommended Videos

Yuji Naka, alongside Taisuke Sasaki, a former Square Enix employee, and Fumiaki Suzuki were arrested as part of an investigation that opened in late January 2020. All three individuals purchased shares in Aiming before the release of Dragon Quest Tact, under the impression that value of its stock would rise. Naka purchased roughly 10,000 shares for approximately 2.8 million yen before the release of Dragon Quest Tact.

Yuji Naka recently worked alongside Square Enix for the release of Balan Wonderworld. In April 2022, he attempted to sue Square Enix over his removal from the game’s development roughly six months before it released. This information was revealed in a Twitter thread, where Naka disclosed issue during the development cycle and certain discissions he did not agree with. This included promotion for the game.

Balan Wonderworld is available for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.


Siliconera is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of Kazuma Hashimoto
Kazuma Hashimoto
Senior staff writer, translator and streamer, Kazuma spends his time playing a variety of games ranging from farming simulators to classic CRPGs. Having spent upwards of 6 years in the industry, he has written reviews, features, guides, with work extending within the industry itself. In his spare time he speedruns games from the Resident Evil series, and raids in Final Fantasy XIV. His work, which has included in-depth features focusing on cultural analysis, has been seen on other websites such as Polygon and IGN.