The creator of Sonic The Hedgehog and Balan Wonderland, Yuji Naka, has been arrested by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office in Japan on account of insider trading. Reported initially by FNN, the Special Investigation Department announced that Naka was arrested as the third suspect in a case related to insider trading surrounding Dragon Quest Tact.
According to the FNN report, it is alleged that Yuji Naka had previous knowledge about the existence of Dragon Quest Tact while he was working at Square Enix. Even before the official announcement of the title.
Yuji Naka Charged With Insider Trading
Before the announcement, Dragon Quest Tact was being developed by both Square Enix and a developer by the name of Aiming in 2020. It was announced before the reveal of the title that Aiming was working on it. Naka apparently purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in Aiming worth 2.8 million yen. This was likely with the plan of selling the shares once the announcement of Dragon Quest Tact went official and Aiming’s name got out there, increasing its value in the process.
The arrest of Sonic creator Yuji Naka was followed by the news of two other ex-Square Enix employees that were also reportedly arrested for being involved in the Aiming insider trading matter. The former middleware manager on Dragon Quest XI, Taisuke Sasaki, and former Dragon Quest X event programmer Fumiaki Suzuki. All three of the aforementioned people have now been arrested and charged with insider trading and breaking Japan’s Financial Instruments and Exchange law. If the charges are indeed proved accurate, the three men could see massive fines and even prison sentences.
But Sonic fans have nothing to worry about as the current Sonic Team is headed by Takashi Iizuka, who has been enjoying the success of the recent Sonic Frontiers. Even if the game isn’t perfect in every way, it shows great potential for future 3D Sonic games.
