Sonic the Hedgehog Creator Admits to Insider Trading

Last year, Sonic the Hedgehog creator Yuji Naka was arrested and indicted for insider trading alleged to have happened during his time working with Square Enix. According to Japanese outlet NHK, Naka admitted to that crime during his trial for violating the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act in Japan. While working for Square Enix, Naka and former Square Enix employee Taisuke Sasaki allegedly purchased stock ahead of a public announcement for Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier, a mobile spin-off developed by Ateam. Naka was accused of purchasing ¥144.7 million yen in the developer's stock, which is about $1.08 million in U.S. dollars.

In addition to purchasing stock in Ateam, Naka was also accused of purchasing stock in Aiming, Inc., the developer of Dragon Quest Tact. Naka and others involved in the stock purchases were banking on the mobile announcements resulting in major profits once the announcements were made public. Ironically enough, The First Soldier was a bit of a failure for Square Enix, and the game was shut down earlier this year. As of this writing, no additional details have been revealed about Naka's admission, or about possible sentencing, though it's likely we'll learn much more over the coming days.

While Yuji Naka is best known for his career with Sega, he left the company in 2006. Naka began working at Square Enix in 2018, developing a new platformer titled Balan Wonderworld. Given Naka's history with the Sonic franchise, many fans were hopeful about the project, but it proved to be a critical and commercial disappointment. Naka was also disappointed by the game's quality, and alleged last year that he was let go from Square Enix six months prior to the game's launch for raising complaints about the quality. It's unclear if any of that is true, or where the blame should be placed for the game's struggles, but clearly it didn't work out the way anyone had hoped.

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[H/T: Nintendo Everything]