Yuji Naka updated his social media accounts, such as Facebook, to reflect he is no longer connected to Square Enix. The update noted that his last day at Square Enix was April 30, 2021. It also said he started there on January 1, 2018. This comes after Naka’s work on Balan Wonderworld for Square Enix. [Thanks, Andres Lopez and GameIndustry.biz!)
No explanation was offered for any of the changes. The change also involved a new Facebook profile picture. In July 2020, Yuji Naka changed to a picture of him wearing Balan’s hat, from Balan Wonderworld, and posed next to the Balan Company logo. On May 26, 2021, he switched to a portrait of him in a suit without the hat and with no logo anywhere.
Balan Company, a new brand, was announced back in July 2020. Square Enix then revealed Balan Wonderworld, a Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima game that involved exploring a magical world while using various costumes. However, the game didn’t review well and featured a number of bugs and other issues at launch. It even needed a launch patch to remove seizure triggers. Its demo was also removed from storefronts.
Balan Wonderworld is available for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. The Balan Wonderworld: Maestro of Mystery ebook is available.
Image Source: Yuji Naka
